Investment by superfunds and other institutions is desirable to meet the scale of unmet demand for affordable rental housing in Australia. This research was concerned with how to encourage institutional investment in rental housing, especially to increase the supply of dwellings affordable to moderate and low income households? The project was conducted using an Investigative Panel method supported by interviews with key informants and desk top research. The panel of 23 members included hand-picked experts from the banking and financial investment sectors, affordable housing providers (for-profit and not-for-profit) and affordable housing industry specialists, together with nominated senior policy officials Led by Associate Prof. Vivienne Milligan, the research team also included Prof. Hal Pawson, Dr Ilan Vizel and Dr Shanaka Herath from City Futures, along with Associate Prof. Judith Yates (University of Sydney) and a housing finance expert Carrie Hamilton.

The study concluded that investment by super funds and other financial institutions was feasible and had potential to substantially add to stocks of affordable rental housing in Australia. A stable policy framework and initial government backing will be required to develop a new residential asset class that meets investors’ requirements for yield, scale and liquidity.

Commenced in 2012 two reports of the project were published in 2013.