Hume, along with other community housing providers, can deliver tangible solutions to address Australia’s housing crisis. We have the sophistication to run our business commercially, whilst driving positive social outcomes. We’re confident Hume’s performance under this program will further reinforce how much community housing providers can achieve, as well as the benefits that can be delivered through a property transfer program.

Our Hunter project delivery team has worked exceptionally hard in the past year to support and deliver this exciting next chapter in Hume’s history, which begins with the opening of our Maitland office on 2 September 2019, followed by our Raymond Terrace office later in the year.

Our employees are contributing to the delivery of the SHMT program and simultaneously delivering business as usual services. It has been imperative that our growth does not come at the cost of diminished services to our existing customers. We are pleased that we have been able to deliver both growth and ongoing high performance.

Continuous improvement in customer service
The expansion of our business in the Hunter region created a pivotal opportunity for us to refine our practices and make significant improvements. To support our customers to achieve life-changing results, we need a structured, consistent approach to how we deliver support coordination across Hume—one that was scalable and replicable to accommodate further growth. Our people and culture at Hume are central to our success and growth. While we are expanding, we have continued our #ONEHUME message to ensure we remain an integrated organisation across our metropolitan and regional bases.

Throughout our expansion, we identified continuous improvement opportunities that would benefit the entire organisation. These included major IT and system improvements, as well as designing new frameworks to deliver improved customer service, performance and reporting.

Our expansion into the Hunter region brings both challenges and opportunities, and Hume has laid solid foundations for success. We will continue to apply our value for money approach to ensure long-term social and economic return on investment for customers, investors and government. Hume’s growth will allow us to achieve a predicted 30% productivity gain whilst increasing social outcomes.

Our business and operating environment
Our external operating environment continues to be exciting. During the year, there was stronger demand for affordable and social housing that rose faster than supply could match. The demand from the affordable housing market and growth of our fee-for-service offerings have created different service models and approaches, such as diversification into the project management of development and construction projects, for example, for the NSW Land and Housing Corporation (click here for further information).

Housing providers are required to demonstrate how their programs and services support people to prosper. This is achieved by supporting the transition from social housing into affordable housing to private rental and home ownership through employment and training initiatives. Governments expect demonstrable social impact in return for their investment, and we are further developing our ability to accurately report on the returns delivered through our programs. Our Board considers this to be key to Hume’s ongoing success.

During the year, our competition continued to increase, and our competitors are savvy, utilising resources like benchmarking models from international reviews to win projects. Hume is poised to take a position at the forefront of the community housing sector. The successful delivery of our Hunter region expansion will be an example of what we are capable of.

In January 2019, the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation (NHFIC) made its first board–approved finance commitment of $35 million to Hume. We will use the loan finance to support our ongoing operations providing affordable homes and services to more than 9,000 customers. The finance represents an important milestone not only for Hume but for the entire community housing sector, which will benefit from access to lower-priced finance and greater certainty in terms of future financing costs and tenure.

Outlook for 2019–20
We look to the coming year with great anticipation as Hume continues to grow. The opening of our office in Maitland will be a significant milestone for community housing in Australia. We would like to acknowledge the NSW Department of Communities and Justice and the Land and Housing Corporation, who we continue to work with to deliver a smooth transition for our new customers.

Hume’s strategic intent is to increase the supply of a variety of social and affordable housing products. We intend to do this through our construction and development team, and through our partnerships with local developers, builders, councils and financiers. Expect to see a lot more from us in this space as we seek to provide housing options to address the needs of the communities within which we operate.

Hume has ambitious growth plans, and we believe that the SHMT project demonstrates our appetite and capacity to continue growing. Our 30-year history, expertise and skills stand us in good stead. We believe Hume will lead the way in increasing the supply of much-needed housing and social support for Australians—for many decades to come.

Since we were founded, Hume’s ethos has been centred on creating choice for our customers. In that time, we have proven ourselves to be a safe pair of hands, delivering quality tenancy and property management services. We also work with our customers to build resilience in ways that are meaningful to them and aligned with how they aspire to live their lives.

In closing, we would like to thank our customers for their contributions to our policies, processes and programs throughout the year. We also acknowledge the assistance of our more than 50 service partners who we work with to deliver our wrap-around services that help our customers to realise their goals. And lastly, we extend sincere thanks to Hume’s employees, without whom we would be unable to be the thriving organisation to which, we are so proud to belong.

Nicola Lemon
CEO, Hume Community Housing

Robert Vine
Chair, Hume Community Housing