Ground Lease Model 2, Victoria

CHL is proud to be part of the Building Communities consortium delivering Homes Victoria’s Ground Lease Model 2 (GLM2) project. The consortium comprises Tetris Capital, ICON, CHL, Women’s Property Initiatives and Aboriginal Community Housing (Vic) Limited, with funding partners including Housing Australia.

GLM2 will deliver 1,370 new homes across four sites: Essex Street, Prahran; Simmons Street, South Yarra; Bluff Road, Hampton East; and Barak Beacon, Port Melbourne. The new homes comprise 659 social homes, 182 affordable rental homes and 473 market rental homes, as well as 56 specialist disability accommodation rental homes. The GLM2 project will replace ageing public housing with modern homes, with completion across all sites expected by November 2026.

How does the ground lease model work? Watch this video.

Our customers
Essex Street, Simmons Street, Bluff Road and Barak Beacon will provide social, affordable and market rental homes for a range of Victorians. Social housing will be allocated to people on the Victorian Housing Register, while affordable homes will be offered at discounted rents to eligible households, including key workers such as nurses, emergency service workers and teachers. Affordable housing at all four sites gives these households the chance to live in well-located areas close to jobs, transport and services. Market rental homes add further housing choice and help create diverse, integrated, mixed-tenure communities.

Our homes
Across the four GLM2 sites, new homes will feature:

• 5-star Green Star rating and 7-star average Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) rating, making them more comfortable and affordable to heat and cool
• Tenure-blind design so social, affordable, market rental homes and specialist disability accommodation are built to the same high standard
• New communal green and indoor spaces, which depending on the site include community rooms, cafes, picnic areas and community gardens
• On-site management, with CHL, Women’s Property Initiatives and Aboriginal Community Housing (Vic) Limited managing social housing tenancies and Horizon Housing Realty managing affordable and market rental homes.

Essex Street, Prahran
Essex Street will have 155 new homes across social, affordable and market housing and specialist disability accommodation, replacing 63 older-style dwellings and delivering 37% more social housing at the site. The social homes are dedicated to women and children at risk of homelessness and will be managed by Women’s Property Initiatives. The affordable and market rental homes will be managed by Horizon Housing Realty. Essex Street is close to trams on Malvern Road and High Street and is well located near schools, jobs and services in the Prahran area.

Simmons Street, South Yarra
Known locally as the Horace Petty site, Simmons Street will have 522 homes across a mix of one, two, three and four bedrooms, replacing 204 older-style dwellings and delivering 34% more social housing at the site. The social homes will be managed by CHL, Women’s Property Initiatives and Aboriginal Community Housing (Vic) Limited and the affordable and market rental homes will be managed by Horizon Housing Realty. Simmons Street is close to South Yarra railway station and to tram and bus routes along Toorak Road and Chapel Street. It is well located near schools, healthcare, universities and the Chapel Street shopping and dining precinct.

Bluff Road, Hampton East
Bluff Road will have 285 homes across one, two, three and four bedrooms, spread across three and four storey buildings and two-storey townhouses. The redevelopment replaces 146 older-style dwellings and delivers 16% more social housing at the site. The social homes will be managed by CHL and Aboriginal Community Housing (Vic) Limited and the affordable and market rental homes will be managed by Horizon Housing Realty. New communal spaces will include a cafe, social enterprise space, multi-purpose community room, community garden, children’s play area, picnic area and civic park.

Barak Beacon, Port Melbourne
Barak Beacon will have 408 homes, replacing 89 older-style social homes and delivering 46% more social housing at the site. New homes will include social, affordable market housing and specialist disability accommodation. The social homes will be managed by CHL and Aboriginal Community Housing (Vic) Limited and the affordable and market rental homes will be managed by Horizon Housing Realty. New communal spaces will include parks, landscaped gardens, a multi-purpose community room and a cafe. Barak Beacon is in the City of Port Phillip, just 3 kilometres from Melbourne’s CBD, close to public transport, Bay Street’s shopping and dining precinct, schools, community services, parks and the beach.

Our impact
GLM2 continues the transformation of Melbourne’s social housing neighbourhoods. The four sites will jointly support approximately 7,600 jobs across the Victorian economy and increase social housing supply by between 16% and 46% at each site, while providing modern, accessible and energy-efficient homes in place of ageing dwellings that no longer meet current design standards. Once complete, each site will have an on-site CHL office providing tenancy and property management services to our customers. Our community development work is focused on nurturing a sense of connection and belonging for our customers and local communities, working with community groups and partners to provide events, interest groups, education and training, and connections to services and support.

How to apply 
People seeking social housing should apply to, or remain on, the Victorian Housing Register, the State Government’s social housing wait list. National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) participants with Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) funding in their plan can register their interest by emailing sda.vic@chl.org.au. People interested in affordable housing or market rental homes across the GLM2 sites should contact Horizon Housing Realty: EOI | Horizon Housing Realty.