Bangs Street, Prahran

The Bangs Street redevelopment replaced 120 older-style social dwellings with 434 new homes, including 228 social and 206 market rental homes. These homes have been built to high standards with a focus on modern living, energy efficiency and sustainability.     

The new homes at Bangs Street include a mix of one-, 2- and 3- bedroom homes to better meet the needs of Victorian families and households.   

There are also high quality new indoor and outdoor spaces for residents and the local community to use and enjoy.

• Located just 5 km from Melbourne’s CBD in the City of Stonnington, the Bangs Street, Prahran housing site is ideally positioned near schools, public transport, jobs, and community services. Residents have easy access to shopping precincts and local destinations, like Chapel Street and the Prahran Aquatic Centre.
• Quality green open spaces including a 1,500 sqm central park and landscaped gardens. 
• All homes have a 5-star Green Star rating and 7-star NatHERS average rating making them more comfortable and easier to heat and cool.  
• At least 5% of new homes at the site are fully accessible to people with a disability.  
• On-site tenancy support, management and community programs. 
• Bangs Street now has better pedestrian connections through the site and to the surrounding neighbourhood. 
• A community room, space for café and commercial spaces for social enterprises.

We consulted the Prahran community for the first time on their vision for the future of the Bangs Street site in 2011 and throughout the development of a master plan for the site. We established a community committee in 2018 to seek ongoing advice and feedback from the local community on redevelopment plans and to identify local issues and matters. 

In 2021, we invited the community to view and provide feedback on the proposed development plans for the new homes at Bangs Street, and this input helped shape the final project.

Social housing  

Social housing is an umbrella term that includes both public housing and community housing. It is available to eligible people on the Victorian Housing Register.   

Public housing  

Public housing is owned and managed by Homes Victoria. The state government provides public housing to eligible Victorians including:  

• people who are unemployed  
• people on low incomes  
• people living with a disability or a mental illness or who are at risk of homelessness  
• people escaping family violence.  

Community housing  

Community housing is managed by community housing organisations.   

Community housing organisations are highly regulated, not-for-profit housing providers that specialise in housing a diverse range of renters.   

Market housing  

Market housing refers to homes that are available for rent at prices set by the current housing market. These homes are not government subsidised.   

The cost of market housing depends on factors like where they are located, how many people want them, and their quality, and features. 

A Ground Lease Model is a partnership approach to delivering social housing. Under the model,  Homes Victoria leases land to a consortium to finance, plan, build, manage and maintain housing for a 40 year period. After the 40 years, the land and all homes is returned to public ownership. This means there is no sale of public land.

Building Communities is a not-for-profit consortium that Homes Victoria appointed to deliver new homes at the Bangs Street, Prahran housing site. 

The Building Communities consortium includes ICON as the builder, and Community Housing (Vic) Limited as the community housing provider.