Posts Categorized: News

Dear BHC friends and partners,

It is with great sadness that we write with the news of Professor John McAuliffe’s passing.

John died yesterday at his home, with his loved ones close by, following a recent stroke and associated health challenges. On behalf of the BHC Board and Executive, we extend his family and friends, and the many other people whose lives he touched, our deepest condolences.

John made a lasting impact on Brisbane in many ways, and BHC was fortunate to have his involvement and leadership from its foundation in 2002, through to his retirement from the Board in 2016.

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We are delighted to announce that BHC’s Jingeri has won the Affordable Development Award in the UDIA Wingate National Awards for Excellence. This is our first UDIA National win and we couldn’t be more proud of this building and the residents who call it home!

Built in partnership with the Queensland Government under the Elderly Parent Carer Innovation Initiative, Jingeri provides purpose-built accommodation for people living with a disability who were previously residing with elderly parents.

Housing and support services are about to be significantly enhanced, with a new approach to tackling the cycle of homelessness to be implemented for some of Brisbane’s most vulnerable community housing residents.

Brisbane City Council’s Pathways out of Homelessness Grant Program will provide close to $3 million over three years to enable new, innovative and sustainable solutions to address the growing community issue of homelessness in Brisbane.

A consortium comprised of respected support organisation, Communify Queensland, and community housing providers Bric Housing and BHC Creating Liveable Communities, was successful with their grant application for Sustaining at Risk Tenancies, a new program designed to deliver a coordinated approach to establishing and delivering support services to some of the providers’ most vulnerable tenants.

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International ratings agency, Standard and Poors (S&P), has reaffirmed BHC’s AA- rating for the 3^rd consecutive time since the initial rating in 2016. The high rating is a reflection of BHC’s financial position, experienced management, strong relationship with the Government and a robust demand for its quality affordable housing assets.

As Australia’s only community housing provider with a credit rating, the AA- rating from S&P provides BHC with options to diversify funding sources in order to continue to grow the supply of affordable housing.

BHC is pleased to announce the appointment of two new senior team members: Jamie Muchall as Chief Operations Officer and Greta Egerton as Projects Director.

With over 15 years’ experience in the affordable housing and property development sectors, Jamie is interested in collaborative housing policy solutions, creation of new programs and research for non-profit and residential property applications. Greta is an experienced development professional with 20 years’ experience in business development, town planning, urban design and property development and will be an asset to BHC’s development team.

Please join us in welcoming Jamie and Greta to the team. To read more information about our new senior team members, visit here.

Congratulations to Joe Hurley, BHC’s Manager Development and Partnerships, for winning the ‘Outstanding Achievement’ award at at the PowerHousing Australia National Awards! Joe was recognised for his significant contribution to BHC’s growth, notably BHC’s $28m funding deal under the Queensland Government ‘Partnering for Growth’ initiative, which will provide 682 affordable homes over the next 5 years.

We were also honoured to be highly commended for Jingeri, Enoggera. This development proudly provides homes for those living with a disability; developed in partnership with the Queensland Government’s under the Elderly Parent Carer Innovative Initiative (EPCII).

Finally we couldn’t be more proud of the work our Rising Star nominee and Housing Manager, Chantel, has contributed across the organisation. We can’t wait to see what you’ll achieve within BHC and the sector in the future!

We are thrilled to announce that BHC’s Jingeri has been awarded the prestigious UDIA Qld Mitchell Brandtman Awards for Excellence in the Affordable Housing category today.

Jingeri is a development that seeks to address a gap in the housing market for people living with a disability. With its carefully detailed design, aesthetically contrasting use of materials and quality finishings, Jingeri challenges the idea of what accessible housing can look like.

This award is a testament to the collaboration between BHC and KO & Co Architecture and we thank all our partners who helped us deliver this striking development.

Congratulations to the other entrants for their incredible submissions and for all the work you do in improving the lives of Queensland’s most vulnerable through the delivery of quality affordable housing.

Meet two of the residents who call this building their home

Last week, we were thrilled to officially celebrate the first birthday of our not-for-profit real estate agency, Elevate Residential at the Brisbane Powerhouse.

Elevate Residential is a real estate agency with a genuine community purpose, a game changer in the real estate market. Elevate operates like any other agency with one difference – 100 per cent of profits will be directed back into its charitable partner Brisbane Housing Company (BHC) helping those with housing needs.

BHC CEO Rebecca Oelkers said Elevate would play a key role in helping BHC realise its vision of increasing affordable housing supply in Brisbane and creating better outcomes for tenants.

“Housing supply continues to be an issue across Australia and it is completely unacceptable that we have so many people with complex housing needs homeless or living in unsatisfactory accommodation,” she said.

“BHC wants to continue to do more to address these housing needs but to do this we need to be entrepreneurial in our approach to funding and service delivery.”

Ms Oelkers said Elevate Residential was a licensed, professional real estate agency that was already achieving strong results for landlords and sellers.

“All funds generated by Elevate will help create an investment pipeline for us to be able to deliver a range of services and programs to assist our tenants achieve their potential across all aspects of their lives,” she said.

“These programs respond directly to the needs of our residents, ranging from bursaries for our school children, to services for women and children who have experienced domestic violence and participation opportunities for tenants with disabilities.

“This is the part we are very passionate about, not just providing our tenants with a home but truly helping them make a difference to their lives.”

Read full media statement here