Future Directions for Social Housing in NSW sets out the NSW Government’s vision for social housing over the next 10 years. This strategy will drive better outcomes for tenants including helping those who are able to transition out of social housing. It looks at the whole continuum of housing – from homelessness to the private market. It provides focused support to help people avoid long term social housing tenancies, while also recognising the role stable housing plays in the lives of people who are not able to live elsewhere.

Future Directions is underpinned by three strategic priorities: • More social housing • More opportunities, support and incentives to avoid and/or leave social housing • A better social housing experience. This will achieve the following outcomes: • Increase successful transitions out of social housing by 5% • Increase the proportion of young people who successfully move from specialist homelessness services to long term stable accommodation by 10%. For this to be sucessful the NSW Government will collaborate with the private sector, the not-for-profit sector and all levels of government to create a social housing system which is sustainable and responsive.

By 2025, Future Directions will seek to transform the social housing system in NSW from one which is dominated by public sector ownership, control and financing of assets and provision of services, and in which tenants have little incentive for greater independence and live in circumstances that concentrate disadvantage, to a dynamic and diverse system characterised by: 

• a greater involvement of private and non-government partners in financing, owning and managing a significantly expanded stock of social and affordable housing assets;
• expanded support in the private rental market, reducing demand on social housing and the social housing wait list
• more competition and diversity in the provision of tenancy management services through the expanded capacity and capability of community housing providers
• housing assistance being seen as a pathway to independence and an enabler of improved social and economic participation for tenants living in vibrant and socioeconomically diverse communities.

To achieve these goals, Future Directions will implement the three interconnected strategies set out in this submission:  1 significant expansion and redevelopment of stock through partnerships with private sector developers and finance;  2 transferring significant tenancy management responsibility to non-government housing providers; and  3 “wrap-around” services to support tenants build their capabilities and take advantage of the economic opportunities in our strengthening economy. In addition, Future Directions will be supported by the Social and Affordable Housing Fund, which will implement innovative approaches to private and non-government sector contributions (in the form of financial investment or land) to grow the stock of social and affordable housing.

Future Directions will move the social housing system to a situation where government supports private and non-government sector initiative and innovation as opposed to one in which government dominates the landscape.  The provision of social housing will be just one part of an individualised and holistic approach to breaking disadvantage for our clients – including health, education, and employment support: • There will be more social housing better designed to meet tenants’ needs, more effective alternatives to social housing, and more pathways out of social housing, especially for children, young people and their families • There will be shorter average tenancies and more people ‘graduating’ from social housing as a result of skills and employment  we have helped them acquire • More clients will use private rental assistance to get them through difficult periods, rather than going on the waiting list • Children of social housing tenants’ school performance will improve • Young people who have grown up in social housing will increasingly move into independent housing, using the education, skills and employment we have helped them acquire