New Street, Brighton

The New Street redevelopment replaced 127 older-style social dwellings with 291 new homes, including 151 social 140 market rental homes.   

These homes have been built to high standards with a focus on modern living, energy efficiency and sustainability.  There is a mix of one-, 2- and 3- bedroom homes to better meet the needs of Victorian families and households.   

The project also improved the site with high quality indoor and outdoor spaces, including a community pavilion for residents and neighbours to use and enjoy. 

• Located just 10 km from Melbourne’s CBD in the City of Bayside, the New Street, Brighton housing site is ideally positioned near schools, transport, jobs, community services, shopping precincts and Brighton Beach.  
• Quality green open spaces for people to meet, enjoy nature and play, including a 2,000 sqm area at the heart of the site, community pavilion and community garden. 
• Safe and well-lit pedestrian and cycling paths to better connect the site to the vibrant local area. 
• 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.
• Space for a café and social enterprise. 

We consulted the Brighton community on their vision for the future of the New Street site in 2017 and throughout the planning of this redevelopment. 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 New 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.