AXA IM Alts creates sustainable build-to-rent homes for workers
Fully electrified affordable housing, powered by renewable energy
The CEFC is backing AXA IM Alts and SGCH to develop affordable build-to-rent apartments in Australian cities to deliver high quality, sustainable homes for workers.
$100 million
CEFC investment
3,000
BTR apartments
Sustainable
housing in key hubs
This investment brings the benefits of sustainability to an important segment of Australia’s residential sector, at scale. Making homes more resilient, healthy and comfortable by lifting sustainability standards helps meet our current and future housing needs as we move towards net zero emissions and unlocks the advantages of sustainable living for more Australians.Ian LearmonthCEO, CEFC
Our investment
The CEFC has invested $100 million in an innovative new affordable build-to-rent strategy managed by AXA IM Alts that aims to deliver high quality, sustainable homes in Australia’s largest cities.
Initial stages are targeting as many as 3,000 apartments across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, with at least 50 per cent of those offered at a discount to equivalent market rents for means-tested tenants.
Targeting market-leading sustainability
Homes built through the strategy aim to be highly energy efficient, fully electric and capable of being powered by renewables while driving reductions in embodied carbon, which is consistent with the International Energy Agency’s1 zero carbon buildings approach. Future projects will target a minimum 5-star Green Star Building certification and a minimum average 7.5-star NatHERs home energy rating.
1 International Energy Agency, All countries targeted for zero-carbon-ready codes for new buildings by 2030, 2022.
OUR IMPACT
Sustainability benefits for lower-income tenants
Sustainability needs to be at the heart of all developments to effectively reduce emissions in the property sector. Tenants can face challenges in implementing energy efficiency and emissions reduction measures in their rental properties.
The AXA IM Alts build-to-rent strategy creates a replicable model for the delivery of affordable housing into the market, while leading with sustainability for tenants who have traditionally been locked out of the benefits of clean energy technologies and sustainable living.
The strategy, an important step in an equitable energy transition, takes an integrated approach to leverage global best practice and drive clean energy outcomes to provide benefits to tenants and to more broadly address housing supply and affordability.
The CEFC investment in the AXA IM Alts strategy demonstrates that unlocking the benefits of energy efficiency for affordable housing can accelerate the energy transition more equitably. Studies have shown that by decreasing energy costs associated with household energy use and transportation, energy efficiency improvements can provide disproportionate benefits for low-income users whose energy costs typically make up a bigger proportion of household budgets2.
First development targets Western Sydney workers
The first investment, a 397-unit residential development in Sydney’s Westmead, is adjacent to one of the largest health, education, research and training precincts in Australia and will increase the supply of affordable housing for key workers in Western Sydney. AXA IM Alts, a global leader in alternative investments and a leading real estate portfolio and asset manager in Europe, has partnered with leading Community Housing Provider, SGCH to manage the Westmead property from completion along with other future projects in NSW. The Westmead development is expected to be completed in late 2025, and will provide housing for approximately 1,000 people, with half the dwellings targeting key healthcare, teaching and emergency response workers in the precinct.
A proven track record in affordable housing
The CEFC has previously worked with SGCH to demonstrate how sustainability improvements can have long-term cost and liveability benefits for lower-income tenants. Between 2015 and 2017, the CEFC committed a total of $170 million to SGCH for the construction of up to 500 energy efficient homes with an average NatHERS rating of 7.5 stars, including 300 developed for the NSW Government’s Social and Affordable Housing Fund.
Supporting sustainability in the build-to-rent sector
The CEFC has previously backed build-to-rent developments to drive increased sustainability outcomes for renters.
These include:
$125 million to the Qualitas Build to Rent Impact Fund
$75 million to the Mirvac Build to Rent Venture
$63 million to the Mirvac Australian Build-to-Rent Club
2 RMI, Why Efficiency Matters: Unlocking Benefits Beyond Climate for all, August 2024.
