More Canberra investors are backing affordable housing — and still making the numbers work

Australia’s rental affordability crisis is increasingly affecting the people who keep local communities running — nurses, teachers, childcare workers and emergency service staff.

In Canberra, a growing number of property investors are partnering with not-for-profit housing providers to help deliver secure, affordable homes, while still achieving sustainable long-term investment outcomes. More than 140 landlords have made the switch.

Australia’s rental crisis has reached a point where full-time work is no longer a buffer against housing stress.

Anglicare Australia’s 2026 Rental Affordability Snapshot found continuing constraints on private rental supply along with rising cost of living pressures and other factors are displacing lower‑income renters from the affordable end of the market.

Canberra is often described as Australia’s most affordable capital on a median income basis, but that label hides what is happening at the lower and middle end of the market.

Research released by the Property Council ACT in September 2025 found a single childcare worker would spend 41 per cent of their income renting a modest two-bedroom unit in the capital, well above the accepted 30 per cent rental stress benchmark.

Even a dual-income ambulance officer and nurse cannot afford to buy a detached home in any of the 12 suburbs modelled.

These are the people who staff Canberra’s hospitals, classrooms, childcare centres and emergency services, yet increasingly they cannot afford to live in the city in which they work.

A new category of property operator

The traditional response to this kind of gap has been to wait for government to build more social housing or for the private market to deliver more supply. The reality is that both ends of the market are struggling to keep pace.

What has emerged in the meantime is a third category: mission-led property operators.

Community housing providers, not-for-profit real estate agencies and social enterprises now sit between the public and private systems, offering structures that allow private investors to participate in affordable housing supply without giving up the financial logic of property investment.

The model is gaining traction because it answers a question the conventional market has not. How do you provide housing that essential workers can afford, on a scale that matters, without relying on government to do it alone?

One answer involves enlisting private landlords through tax incentives and structured rental arrangements that make the numbers work for both sides.

In the ACT, the most developed example of this approach is HomeGround Real Estate Canberra.

How the model works

HomeGround Real Estate Canberra is a not-for-profit real estate agency established by CHC Australia, a leading ACT community housing provider.

It is one of only two approved providers for the ACT Government’s Affordable Community Housing Land Tax Exemption Scheme, and the only licensed real estate agency among them.

Under the scheme, eligible landlords who rent their property at more than 25 per cent below market rates to an approved tenant can receive a full land tax waiver on that property.

The difference between market rent and the reduced rent may also attract an ATO-recognised charitable donation certificate, providing a further tax benefit.

CHC Australia chief executive Nathan Dal Bon said the model was designed to deliver for both sides of the lease.

“HomeGround Canberra was established because the private rental market wasn’t delivering for many Canberra property investors and tenants,” Mr Dal Bon said.

“This partnership model delivers value on all fronts, supporting socially responsible investment while offering market returns, and providing affordable, secure homes for essential workers and others priced out of the private market.”

Mr Dal Bon said the recent Federal Budget sharpened the case for models like HomeGround.

“As federal tax settings change, the ACT’s land tax exemption becomes even more important for investors with established properties,” Mr Dal Bon said.

“While negative gearing concessions are being wound back for established homes, HomeGround gives eligible landlords access to other meaningful offsets that support a competitive overall return, including the full ACT land tax waiver, while also delivering secure, affordable homes for Canberra’s essential workers.”

The numbers behind the rapid uptake

In its six years of operation, HomeGround Real Estate Canberra has delivered substantial land tax savings across its landlord base, according to Director Patrick Sacco.

“Last year, properties under HomeGround's management delivered approximately $750,000 in land tax savings for the more than 140 landlords we partner with,” Mr Sacco said.

Canberra’s average weekly rent sits at around $680.

Through HomeGround’s model, the average weekly rent across its managed properties is approximately $440, putting it within reach for the essential workers who make up around 60 per cent of its tenant base, including nurses, teachers and early childhood educators.

For landlords, the reduction in rental income is offset by the land tax exemption and the donation certificate. Many investors find the overall financial outcome comparable to, or better than, a standard market rate arrangement.

A landlord’s view

Among those landlords now working with HomeGround is retired Canberra investor Claude, who over the past two years has progressively moved all four of his rental properties under HomeGround’s management.

While the financial benefits initially attracted him to the model, Claude said the social impact became equally important over time.

“The big attraction was the landlord exemption for land tax, and the tax deduction on the discounted rent,” he said.

“The social aspect was appealing, but I'm retired, and I don't have a large surplus.”

The model is designed to create sustainable outcomes for both landlords and tenants, combining professional property management with meaningful community impact.

It is a view HomeGround says reflects most of its landlord base. The model is not pitched as charity. It is pitched as a structurally sound investment that happens to produce a social outcome alongside the financial one.

Professional management, purpose-driven model

For Canberra landlords, HomeGround offers an opportunity to combine professional property management with meaningful community impact.

For investors considering a switch, the transition is straightforward. HomeGround manages the handover from the existing property manager, typically completing the process in under 10 days, and without requiring any existing tenancy to end.

As the affordability crisis deepens and more investors look for structures that perform financially while contributing to housing supply, the social enterprise model is moving from the edge of the property conversation toward the centre of it.