Boarding House Financial Assistance Program – New Supply

Expression of Interest Form

Grants for new rooms

The Boarding House Financial Assistance Program provides funds to encourage the construction of new generation boarding houses with fully self-contained rooms and to add self-contained rooms to existing boarding houses. (For more information see the Boarding House Financial Assistance Program – New Supply Program Guidelines.)

Criteria you must satisfy

To be eligible for the grant under the Program, new premises and additions to existing premises must comply with the following criteria:

  • Rooms must comply with the room size requirements of the Affordable Rental Housing State Environmental Planning Policy (ARHSEPP) and must be self-contained, that is including private ensuite bathroom and kitchenette facilities. It is not necessary that all of the rooms in the boarding house be self-contained but only self contained rooms will be eligible for financial assistance.
  • The premises or additional rooms must be new, not alterations or renovations to existing premises or residential flat buildings, or conversions of existing class 1 (a) dwelling houses. However premises may be conversions of existing non-residential buildings to boarding houses, for example warehouses, where permissible by council.
  • The premises must have, or be capable of obtaining, a Residential rating with the local council. Note that premises MUST have a residential rating before any grant can be paid.
  • The development application must have been submitted within the last three years.
  • The boarding house must provide long term low cost accommodation. This means boarding house accommodation that:
  • Provides rooms with a minimum three month stay; and
  • Has rents at or below the tariff level for either a shared or single room for the relevant local government area as calculated in the Table of Rents attached to the Program Guidelines and updated annually on the Centre for Affordable Housing (CAH) website.

(Please see the Table of Rents and Program Guidelines for more information.)

  • The applicant will be required to enter into a Deed of Agreement with Family and Community Services, formally agreeing that in exchange for grant funds, the premises will be retained for long term low cost accommodation targeted at low to moderate income residents for the following five years.
  • The boarding house must be financially viable, close to public transport and have easy access to retail, social and cultural and other amenities and facilities.

The following premises are not eligible for a grant:

  • Backpacker or tourist accommodation or premises that include any tourist accommodation.
  • Premises operated on land rated by council as other than Residential under Section 516 of the Local Government Act.

Premises which have received a grant for fire safety upgrading are not eligible for further financial assistance under the Program, and premises which receive a grant for new or additional self contained rooms are not eligible to receive grants for fire safety upgrading.

Under this Program, boarding houses licensed by the Department of Family and Community Services (Ageing, Disability and Home Care) are eligible for assistance, provided they meet all the other criteria.

Premises developed by registered Community Housing Providers are eligible for assistance.

Upon confirmation of eligibility under the Boarding House Financial Assistance Program, the application will remain valid for a period of 12 months to allow the applicant to obtain development approval from Council. An extension of eligibility may be considered by Family and Community Services (FACS)on application. Similarly, if construction is not completed within the following 12 months, the application lapses, unless an extension is applied for. Extension is at the discretion of Family and Community Services.

Program grants of $10,000 are available for each dwelling unit constructed in the boarding house. Grants are payable at the rate of $2,000 per year over a period of 5 years. The grant is calculated exclusive of GST. To receive the 10% GST component, a tax invoice must be submitted to FACS with confirmation of GST registration and inclusion of an ABN.

The first installment of the grant will be payable on final inspection and approval of the building works (to ensure all planned rooms are delivered in accordance with the information provided in the application), once the occupation certificate is submitted to FACS and the Deed of Agreement is signed. Subsequent installments will be paid out on receipt of statutory declarations that the premises are leased at or below tariffs set out in the Table of Rents.

The Australian Tax Office has ruled previously that financial assistance grants will be subject to taxation. Applicants should seek advice as to the taxation implications of the grant.

Definitions

The following definitions are used in the application form and in determining eligibility:

Boarding house

“Boarding house” means a building wholly or partly let as lodgings in which

(a)There are rooms, some or all of which may have private kitchen and bathroom facilities, that accommodate one or more lodgers;

(b)There may be shared facilities, such as a communal living room, bathroom, kitchen or laundry;

(c)Each letting provides the occupant with a principal place of residence, and includes a vacant building that, immediately before it became vacant, was a building so let;

(d)The premises must be used and occupied by at least three long-term residents who are not members of the family of the owner or manager, or are not members of the family of a shareholder of a company if an exempt proprietary company is the owner; and

(e)Lodgers are provided with a principal place of residence for 3 months or more. This definition does not include backpackers’ hostels, a group home, a serviced apartment or other tourist establishment, seniors housing or hotel or motel accommodation, or a residential flat building or premises which are licensed under the Liquor Act 1982.

Backpacker hostel

“Backpacker hostel” means a building or part of a building which provides accommodation for travelers, tourists or persons engaged in recreational pursuits, which is not their principal place of residence.

Serviced apartment

“Serviced apartments” means a building containing two or more dwellings intended to be used for short-term accommodation of travelers and tourists and where such dwellings are cleaned or otherwise serviced or maintained by the owner or manager of the apartments or the owner’s or manager’s agent.

Long-term, low cost accommodation

“Long-term, low cost rental accommodation” means new generation boarding house accommodation that:

  • Provides rooms with a minimum three month stay
  • Has rents at or below the tariff level for the relevant local government area as calculated in the Table of Rents attached to the Guidelines and updated annually on the CAH website.

Classification of Boarding Houses

Under the Building Code of Australia, boarding houses are classified either as Class 1b or Class 3 buildings. Class 1b boarding houses are defined as premises both accommodating not more than 12 persons and where the gross floor area of the premises is not more than 300 square metres. Class 3 premises accommodate more than 12 persons or have a gross floor area of more than 300 square metres.

Expression of Interest Form for New and Existing Premises

  1. Will the premises provide any backpacker or tourist accommodation? YesNo
  1. Will the premises be eligible to be rated as “Residential” by council?YesNo
  1. Are the proposed rents for the premises below the levels prescribed in YesNo

the Table of Rents for this Program?

Applicant Details

  1. Name
  1. Company name
  1. Street address or PO Box Number
  1. Suburb
  1. Postcode
  1. a. Contact phone number

b. Email Address

  1. ABN or ACN

Current owner of the premises (if the applicant is not the owner)

  1. Name
  1. Company name
  1. Street address or PO Box Number
  1. Suburb
  1. Postcode
  1. Local government area
  1. Contact phone number
  1. ABN or ACN

Property and Building Information

Address details for proposed new generation boarding houses premises

  1. Street address
  1. Suburb
  1. Postcode
  1. Local government area

Additional information is required to address the relative merits of applications. Please provide a response to the following:

  1. Who are the intended residents of the premises?
  1. How will the premises be managed?
  1. How will you ensure long term occupation by residents?
  1. If the applicant is not the owner, explain the relationship between the applicant and the owner.

Please indicate the proximity to existing public transport

  1. Within 800 metres walking distance from railway station or Sydney Ferries ferryYesNo

service terminal?

  1. Within 400 metres walking distance from light rail station?YesNo
  1. Within 400metres walking distance of a bus stop used by a regular bus service YesNo

that has at least one bus per hour servicing the bus stop between 6am and 9pm

Monday to Friday?

  1. Please complete the Boarding House Calculator and forward along with this application.

For Existing Premises Only:

  1. Number of existing self-contained rooms in the premises?
  1. Number of existing non self-contained rooms in the premises?

Please complete the table below with information about the proposed self-contained rooms. All columns must be completed for each room. For boarding houses with more than 30 rooms, please contact the Centre of Affordable Housing.

Room no. / Size of room in square metres excl. kitchen & bathroom / Single or share room? / Kitchenette facilities in room? / Ensuite bathroom in room? / Length of stay / Full board and lodging? / Proposed weekly tariff / LGA