Not-for-profit SGCH (formerly St George Community Housing) will provide homes for more than 700 people in Sydney by mid-2021 through a funding deal with Commonwealth Bank that will increase the amount of social and affordable housing in Sydney.

“If we want a diverse and thriving local community and economy, we need more affordable housing options so that low income earners and key-workers, such as teachers, can live in the suburbs where they work," SGCH Group Chief Executive Officer Scott Langford.

“To receive financial backing from the Commonwealth Bank shows they understand our vision and pursuit to provide great places to live for lower income households in Sydney.”

The four-year, $110 million debt financing facility provided by CBA will allow SGCH to build 285 new dwellings, adding to its existing portfolio of 4,700 social and affordable properties. It will also refinance existing debt, providing additional capital to support the delivery of several other developments.

“Partnering with Commonwealth Bank means we can develop hundreds of high-quality, affordable homes in places where there is a critical shortage of affordable housing,” Mr Langford said

Commonwealth Bank General Manager for Social Impact and Specialised Industries, Vanessa Nolan-Woods, said the bank had an ongoing commitment to supporting the social and affordable housing sector.

“As more community housing providers gain work through Government initiatives, we’ve seen an increased need for not-for-profits to partner with non-government and private sectors to raise new capital,” Ms Nolan-Woods said.

“We're proud to play our part in supporting the sustainable expansion of community housing across the state and this partnership advances our work in the sector.

“We have worked closely with SGCH to execute this deal and will continue to work with government, community and not-for-profits to drive outcomes in the social housing sector.”

Access to social and affordable housing is an intractable social challenge in Australia with latest data showing 116,427 people nationally were homeless on Census night in 2016, and in 2017 an estimated 373,000 NSW households were in housing need, requiring some form of assistance to avoid rental stress.

With CBA’s financing and other partners such as the NSW Government, SGCH will be delivering the targeted supply of new homes to help serve this demand.

For more information about SGCH please visit the website.