5 October 2009

SOUTH East Queensland investors rushing to purchase homes under the National Rental Affordablity Scheme (NRAS) have snapped up 80 per cent of NRAS properties available under a new partnership between leading residential developer Devine and not for profit Gold Coast Housing Company.

Under the partnership, 115 homes will be built throughout Queensland. The homes will be managed by GCHC and built within Devine Communities Estates.

Only a limited number of houses remain on the market at Devine’s Alberi Park estate at Holmview.  

Under the NRAS, an initiative of the Commonwealth Government, dwellings are made available to eligible low income workers for at least 20 per cent below market rent. GCHC’s involvement in the NRAS program further reduces rent to 25 per cent below market value.

GCHC CEO Jason Cubit says the partnership with Devine adds to GCHC’s capacity to provide quality affordable homes in great locations.

“The aim of the NRAS is to provide secure, modern and well located accommodation for people facing housing stress, meaning they are low income earners spending more than 30 per cent of their wages on accommodation alone,” Mr Cubit said.

“Devine Communities tick all these boxes as they are all closely located to good employment opportunities, good schools and easy access to major amenities like hospitals, shopping centres and public transport. Further Devine shares GCHC’s commitment to quality and service.”

Devine Sales Manager-Special Projects Steve George said the NRAS program had been extremely successful and there is now only a very limited amount of stock remaining.

“In today’s financial climate, investors are finding that NRAS is a financially secure and stress-free way of investing in property,” he said.

“With our final allocation of homes going on sale this week starting from only $339,900, we expect they will not last very long.”
Mr George said NRAS provided some great opportunities for eligible investors.

“Investors accepted into the NRAS program will receive guaranteed rent for 10 years from the GCHC, plus an annual $8000 tax-free cash incentive per home from the State and Federal governments over this period,” he said.

 “Investors will also be able to help low and middle-income families secure an affordable rental home, which can be quite difficult in the current market.”

Devine Homes will be responsible for building the NRAS properties, which will be sold to investors with a head lease to GCHC. As head lessor, GCHC sub-lets the property and manages the tenancy on investors’ behalf, offering a guaranteed return on the dwelling for ten years.

“The NRAS scheme offers numerous benefits for a range of parties including tenants, developers, investors and the general community,” Mr Cubit said.

“People who are struggling to pay rent can save an average of more than $3,500 per year, allowing them to continue to live and work in their community rather than travelling sometime in excess of an hour to work from where they can afford to live”.

"The community benefits from retaining these low income earners to work in key industries like hospitality, tourism and retail. The scheme also creates more local construction jobs.

“Developers and investors win by securing guaranteed sales and above market, long-term yields, along with the peace of mind that GCHC will cover all aspects of tenancy management, which is a role we have been doing successfully for over a decade.”

The NRAS properties will be a combination of homes, units and townhouses scattered throughout Devine Communities.

Tenancy allocation is expected to take place when construction on the first tranche of homes begins in November.