Pictured Left to Right: Adrian Harrington (NHFIC Chair), Ian Lynch (Pacific Link Housing CEO), Mark Glew (Pacific Link Housing Executive Manager, Property Development), Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Member for Robertson Lucy Wicks MP, Wal Edgell (Pacific Link Housing Chairman)
Pacific Link Housing finished 2021 by marking a further increase to social and affordable housing for those residents in the Central Coast communities in greatest need, and celebrated a number of award wins in recognition of their work.
In December 2021, Pacific Link Housing celebrated the completion of the Adira Development at Woy Woy which provides housing security for older women who are facing the ongoing rental affordability and availability crisis. The 12 unit mixed-tenancy complex includes a combination of social, affordable and private market rentals, specifically designed to be safe and secure for older women.
One of the new residents, Kay moved into the apartments before Christmas and said it was a blessing to have a safe home after being through a difficult time in her previous, sub-standard, private market tenancy.
“I believe that everybody deserves a safe and secure home that is affordable as relevant to their circumstances, and I have found mine here at Adira. I am so grateful to the wonderful staff at Pacific Link Housing for the opportunity to live in such a beautiful property where I feel safe and secure”, Kay said.
A pleasing conclusion to the end of construction, was a visit from Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Member for Robertson Lucy Wicks who applauded the work of Pacific Link Housing in completing the development, in particular how it provides a range of options for residents across the housing spectrum.
As part of the visit, the Prime Minister announced an increase to the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation’s lending cap by $500 million, which Pacific Link Housing has used to leverage such assets that are held by the Central Coast’s only locally based Tier 1 community housing provider. “This announcement will create even more opportunities for community housing providers such as Pacific Link Housing, that has received more than $11 million in low-cost financing from NHFIC. I am pleased their latest development in Woy Woy will focus especially on getting older women into housing,” Ms Wicks said.
The Adira development is the result of the efforts of many parties, including a significant contribution of $1.6 million through the NSW Government’s Community Housing Innovation Fund, which cemented the allocation of six units to women eligible for social housing. The remaining units are a mix of affordable housing and private market rate rentals which were fully leased within a week of obtaining practical completion from the builders, Mars Building.
Pacific Link Housing’s social enterprise Real Estate Agency, Key2 Realty, had a huge response in leasing the affordable and private market rentals with a one-bedroom unit receiving 75 applications and 1,896 views on realestate.com, highlighting the demand for this type of housing.
Pacific Link Housing Chairman Wal Edgell said that the mixed tenancy model has proven successful in other projects completed by the organisation. The development will provide opportunities for women, at any stage of the housing journey, to access safe and secure accommodation.
“The building’s name Adira is adopted from Hebrew meaning strong and powerful. It is a message to residents that Pacific Link Housing is here to support them on their journey to build capacity and create improved opportunities for their future”, Mr Edgell said.
In addition to the successful completion of the Adira Apartments, Pacific Link Housing celebrated several award wins including the prestigious award for a mixed tenancy development recently completed. The Property Council of Australia’s Innovation & Excellence Award for the best National Affordable Housing Development was received for ‘Pacific Gateway’, a 21 unit mixed tenancy complex built and owned by Pacific Link Housing in Glendale, Lake Macquarie.
Ian Lynch, CEO of Pacific Link Housing said that it was an honour to receive the Property Council of Australia Award as it demonstrates that we are not only increasing the amount of social and affordable housing stock for those in need, but also delivering quality, mixed tenancy developments, that are recognised at a national level.
Three more award wins were celebrated by Pacific Link Housing including the Australasian Housing Institute’s ‘Response to COVID-19’ NSW Award and ‘Executive Excellence’ NSW Award for CEO, Ian Lynch. The PowerHousing Australia National Awards also recognised the efforts of Pacific Link Housing’s Together Home Program Manager Nicole Harvey, who was runner up in the Outstanding Achievement category.
“Pacific Link Housing will be pursuing a number of housing outcomes in the first half of 2022 that will further benefit the local community broadly and in particular those needing affordable housing”, Ian Lynch said.