Social Housing Infrastructure
Why Community Housing partnerships are the future of social infrastructure
Social housing is more than shelter. It’s infrastructure. Like roads, hospitals, and schools, it’s an investment in the future. It underpins community wellbeing, workforce participation, and economic growth. But meeting Australia’s growing housing need will require more than government funding alone.
Community Housing Providers (CHPs) like Bridge Housing are increasingly turning to Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) and collaborations with social infrastructure investors and developers such as Invesis to unlock the scale and long-term capital required to tackle the housing crisis. These partnerships bring together two sectors that share a similar purpose: to create sustainable assets that deliver measurable community benefit and lasting value.
A new kind of infrastructure investment
Social infrastructure investors take a long-term view. They’re not simply financiers. Like CHPs, they are stewards. Their projects are designed to create a lasting legacy for future generations, combining financial performance with positive social and environmental outcomes.
These investors typically manage projects across the full lifecycle: from development and financing through to design, construction, maintenance, operations, and even handback. Their expertise in structuring and managing complex, multi-decade infrastructure deals mean they understand how to de-risk delivery and ensure quality for the long term.
This approach aligns closely with how CHPs operate. Community housing providers take a 30- to 50-year view of their assets, ensuring that homes remain affordable and well maintained. With the introduction of the Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF), CHPs have also assumed the role of development lead for greenfield and redevelopment projects. They work with tenants and communities directly – building trust, supporting wellbeing, and creating stable neighbourhoods.
Together, CHPs and infrastructure investors can bridge the gap between social purpose and financial sustainability.
Layering of PPP funding is enabling Bridge Housing to deliver 174 new social and affordable homes into the heart of Western Sydney, where unmet housing need is at its most acute. Housing Australia, Bridge, and Invesis, supported by Capella Capital, are collaborating to change the socio-economic futures of households currently in rental stress.
Beyond the HAFF: securing the next wave of capital
The Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF) facility is a welcome and essential investment in social and affordable housing. But with competing pressures on government budgets, funding at this scale is unlikely to continue indefinitely. To sustain momentum and expand housing supply beyond the life of the HAFF, CHPs need to secure non-government funding streams that can complement and outlast public programs.
Partnerships with global sustainable infrastructure investors are one way forward. These organisations bring patient capital, a long-term outlook, and deep experience in delivering essential projects under PPP models. They can help CHPs diversify funding sources and deliver more homes faster without compromising affordability or quality.
In this model, government acts as an enabler, not the sole financier. Investors deliver capital tied to environmental and social standards. CHPs provide the development and community engagement expertise, tenant management, and local partnerships that make these projects successful on the ground.
The result is a more resilient housing ecosystem that is more resilient to short-term grant cycles or political change.
The benefits of long-term collaboration
When community housing providers and social infrastructure investors come together, several benefits emerge:
Scale and certainty: Infrastructure investors bring access to large-scale capital and proven delivery frameworks that help projects move from concept to completion.
Sustainability: Sectors share a commitment to ESG standards.
Community impact: CHPs bring deep community relationships and tenant insight that ensure developments are designed for real people, not just numbers on a balance sheet.
Shared accountability: Long-term partnerships create transparency, integrity, and alignment of interests. Everyone has skin in the game – from planning authorities to financiers and frontline housing managers.
The risks and challenges
Of course, PPPs are not without risk. Aligning financial models with social outcomes can be complex. Community housing providers must also ensure that projects don’t drift away from their social mission in the pursuit of returns.
Governance and transparency are key. Maintaining trust between partners and the communities they serve requires clear agreements, mutual respect, and shared values. Key values include integrity, responsibility, and a drive for excellence.
Infrastructure investors, for their part, must understand that social housing is not a standard commercial asset. It requires empathy, long-term community engagement, and flexibility to respond to tenants’ needs.
What sets CHPs and social infrastructure investors apart
Unlike private developers, CHPs measure success by social impact, not just profit. They reinvest surpluses back into homes and services that improve lives. Their work is local, personal, and grounded in trust built over decades.
Similarly, sustainable infrastructure investors differ from standard developers. They operate with integrity, transparency, and a long-term commitment to the assets they help to build. Each project is developed with a clear purpose and managed responsibly from inception through to handback.
Building the legacy
Every partnership between a CHP and a social infrastructure investor begins with a shared goal: to create a sustainable future. Together, they can transform the way Australia builds social housing.
As we look to the future, the message is clear: social housing is infrastructure. Investing in it creates jobs, supports communities, and leaves a legacy for generations to come. The partnerships we forge today, like that of Invesis and Bridge Housing, will determine the homes and the future we build tomorrow.