bric housing

1

• bric housing
• experiences of merging
• three community housing providers
• Queensland Shelter Conference 2009
• Presenter Rhonda Phillips
• Chairperson
• bric housing

2
Introducing bric housing

• Social and affordable housing provider
• Manage nearly 600 housing tenancies
• Incorporated Nov 2007 and operational July 2008
• Not for profit company, charity and registered
  housing provider
• Expert based Board of Directors

3
Merged organisations

• Better Housing Projects inner city provider
  primarily boarding house and singles
  accommodation based in Fortitude Valley
• Cabbage Tree Housing primarily transitional
  housing provider based in Sandgate and
  incorporating Ti Tree Indigenous housing service.
• Redback Housing youth specific

4
Drivers for merging

• Increased scale necessary for growth and
  expansion of affordable housing to respond to
  unmet housing needs
• Quality, performance and compliance increasing
  expectations of community housing organisations
• More effective together

5
History

• 2004 Preliminary discussions
• 2005 Workshop of committees and staff endorse
  idea
• 2006 Feasibility Project /Due Diligence
• In principle agreement to model
• 2007 Implementation planning
• 2008 Transition phase
• 2009 Consolidation

6
Key Success Factors

• Voluntary merger
• Time to develop trust and shared vision
• Leadership by key staff and committee members
• Commitment and expertise of staff and committees
• Governance - joint transition committee
• Funding assistance from QDoH and BCC
• Co-operation and incentives (additional
  properties) from Department of Housing
• Dedicated project staff
• Contracting in expertise where needed
• Vision and leadership

7
Implementation Goals and Challenges

• Creating a shared culture
• Retaining specific focus on Indigenous and youth
  services
• Maintaining strong links within local communities
  and with support services
• Communication and engagement with staff
• Communication with tenants, QDoH and other
  stakeholders
• Maintaining focus on service delivery during
  change
• Balancing growth of existing and new business
• Managing change

8
Merger outcomes

• Relatively smooth transition
• Minimal negative impact on service delivery
• High staff retention, satisfaction and success in
  recruitment
• Strengthened infrastructure office
  accommodation, IT systems, tenancy management
  systems and practices
• Improved profile attracted interest and support
  from potential partners and supporters
• Strengthened expert Board
• A strong foundation for growth

9
The future growth challenges

• Expand social housing role
• Difficult to plan long term when funding and
  leases are short term
• Access to new Commonwealth funding?
• Develop affordable housing
• National policy leadership and funding (NRAS)
• Unclear state government policy directions
• Accessing investment equity and debt
• Uncertainty of global economic crisis
• A jump into the unknown

10
Summary

• Merging isnt easy requires lots of time,
  commitment, perseverance, patience, trust and
  expertise from staff and committees
• Merging costs significant investment required
  in planning, legal issues, financial management,
  information technology, human resource
  management, logistics etc. etc.
• Benefits are uncertain pathways for growth are
  complex and unclear
• We hope and trust it is worth all the pain