What is Meanwhile Use: how does it help those in need?
In housing, the term “meanwhile use” refers to the temporary use of vacant or underutilised properties or land. This concept involves repurposing these spaces in a way that can benefit the community, such as crisis accommodation, or temporary housing solutions. The aim is to make use of otherwise empty properties while awaiting long-term development or permanent use.
Habitat for Humanity Australia and Meanwhile Use
Habitat for Humanity Australia combines housing development with social impact, delivering tailored solutions to local communities. As a Tier 3 Community Housing Provider, Habitat’s focus increases access to secure and affordable housing for the most vulnerable, including women and children escaping domestic violence. Core programs include:
- Construction of domestic violence refuges and other specialist housing (in partnership with service providers)
- A subsidised affordable rental program that provides transitional affordable housing for women and their children escaping violence secure housing at no more than 50% of market rent
- A repairs and maintenance social enterprise (Habitat Women) providing services to CHPs and Specialist Homelessness Services and creating employment opportunities for women in construction
Habitat partners with local government, private organisations, community and council to create “meanwhile use” properties to help address immediate housing, safety, or social needs.
Meanwhile Use in Action: providing housing to families escaping violence
Habitat for Humanity recently accessed and refurbished a vacant property to provide much needed housing for two young women and their children. Aboriginal Women and Children’s Crisis Service (AWCCS) will support the transition of women who have fled domestic violence out of crisis accommodation into the property under a 12-month lease.
Coronation Property provided Habitat for Humanity with the opportunity to headlease a vacant three-bedroom home for 12 months on a peppercorn rent. Over 6 weeks, Habitat for Humanity undertook refurbishment work to make the property ready for tenants. Corporate partners including Hilti, James Hardie and Mirvac provided in-kind materials, support and volunteer crews to paint the property. Habitat for Humanity’s social enterprise, Habitat Women, provided training opportunities for our students working to prepare the property for tenants, with many students coming back to volunteer additional time to get the property ready in time.
“The tenant is super excited and grateful to have her own place with son as she has been homeless for the past 3.5yrs, and just in time for Christmas. Amazing work team,”
– Mel, Family Support Worker, AWCCS.
Scaling a model to achieve more Meanwhile Use Housing
Habitat for Humanity believes partnerships between government, community and private sector are critical to solving the housing crisis, and we are working with our partners to design and deliver innovative solutions.
The St Peters project demonstrates an effective model to rapidly and cost-effectively deliver Meanwhile Use Housing for vulnerable people in need of affordable transitional accommodation. Habitat for Humanity brings together values aligned property owners to identify and access suitable sites for refurbishment and sources industry sector partners that provide in-kind materials and volunteer labour to reduce costs whilst supporting partners to achieve ESG goals.
These projects provide employment and on the job training for our Habitat Women Social Enterprise. Over the past year, graduates have completed over 2,000 hours of repairs and maintenance for specialist housing and support providers across Sydney.
Partnerships-for-Purpose: growing the pipeline
Habitat for Humanity currently has over 30 service providers who we engage with – Combining our subsidised refurbishment and repairs, and our partners wrap around support services to women, children and youth. This partnership enables the delivery of additional properties – particularly as their clients move on from crisis accommodation and need access to affordable transitional and longer-term housing options.
Habitat for Humanity is committed to growing a pipeline of Meanwhile Use opportunities which we can rapidly and cost-effectively make available as affordable secure housing. We will continue to document learnings and challenges from each project and engage with partners across the sector to encourage wider adoption and replication of successful models.
Haymarket Revitalisation Project: for young people at risk of homelessness
Habitat for Humanity is in negotiations with Homes NSW to consider funding through the Housing Innovation Fund to remodel the vacant floor of a multi-use building into 6 transitional housing units for young people at risk of homelessness. The unique project is a partnership between youth homelessness services and private land owners seeking to add-value to homelessness resources. If successful, this will be the first youth-only DFV housing in NSW supporting young people and their children.
We welcome recent announcements by the NSW Government to speed up approval processes for Meanwhile Use and will continue to engage with Homes NSW and the City of Sydney to understand the potential application of exempt and complying development pathways to the Haymarket project.
If you’d like to hear more about our Meanwhile Use projects, or potentially get involved, contact us by emailing [email protected].
You can read other stories of impact at habitat.org.au/impact.