Innovations in stock matching and allocations: the social housing challenge
Australia’s social housing sector remains under significant pressure. Demand for social housing properties remains high, waiting lists are long, and the sector is expected to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse current and prospective tenant population. Resulting from these pressures is an allocation and matching system that operates long waiting lists through a range of eligibility criteria and assessment and priority categories, aiming to achieve a fair and equitable allocation system of social housing. These processes have seen the sector increasingly targeted towards low-income households with complex needs, and to those experiencing multiple disadvantages and support needs.
This research has set out to explore whether innovative, flexible allocation and matching policy and practice could reduce the gaps between the need for and the supply of social housing.
Data drawn from policy review and stakeholder interviews revealed that almost all Australian jurisdictions—apart from the Northern Territory (NT)—have established a common housing register for applicants applying to both State Housing Authorities (SHAs) and Community Housing Providers (CHPs). Eligibility criteria to access the common register across jurisdictions are very similar, with little variations regarding the minimum age of applicants, or income and asset limits. Other differences between jurisdictions include the existence of a separate priority transfer list, and variations in priority categories based on needs, which range between four priority categories and one.
Demand for social housing across jurisdictions has remained high over the last five years, while stock has not increased significantly to match demand—despite recent plans in some jurisdictions to build new stock as a response to the COVID-19 crisis. To allocate fairly, SHAs have developed complex structures of priority categories and definitions of needs that enable and clarify decision-making around who should get housing and who should not. This results in the allocation of dwellings to applicants with the highest needs.
Also Read: Social Housing For All