Posts Categorized: News

We are proud to announce that BHC’s Benson Place has received the state award in the affordable development category at the UDIA Queensland 2020 Mitchell Brandtman Awards for Excellence.

The development was designed by leading Brisbane firm Ultralinea Architecture, comprises of 35 one-bedroom modern apartments, each with a separate multi-purpose room.

BHC CEO Rebecca Oelkers said the development was uniquely created for senior public housing residents in the Logan area who were looking to downsize into more suitable accommodation.

“Before living at Benson Place, these residents were living in large, detached public housing properties that were too big for their current household requirements, with poor accessibility, and difficult maintenance requirements,” Ms Oelkers said.

“Benson Place was designed to support residents’ aspirations to age in place in their local communities and provide them with peace of mind about their long-term housing futures.  I am incredibly proud of what we have been able to achieve with the project.

“Given the significant demand on the public housing waiting list, residents vacating their public housing property to relocate to Benson Place, in turn, enabled larger families to be housed, or the sites to be redeveloped by the State Government into more modern public housing that better matches the waiting list need.”

The building opened in 2019 with Barry among its first tenants. This life-changing move has transformed Barry’s life for the better, allowing him to focus his time on the hobbies he enjoys most.

“I never ever dreamed in my life that I would be in a place like this,” Barry said.

“The move itself has been very positive, it’s totally changed my lifestyle. You are now living in a community, you can walk out your door, you can walk downstairs to the common room and there is almost someone around to have a cuppa, have a talk.”

Funded in partnership with the Queensland Government, the development has been named Benson Place in recognition of the important work of Colleen Benson over the past 27 years in the Springwood community.

Find out more about Barry’s story here.

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