Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF)

Purpose and Program Overview

The Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF) is an Australian Government initiative established on 1 November 2023 under the Housing Australia Future Fund Act 2023. The fund was credited with an initial capital contribution of $10 billion, which is invested by the Future Fund Board of Guardians to generate long-term returns. Those returns are used to support the delivery of new social and affordable housing and to address acute housing needs across Australia, rather than the capital itself being spent directly.

The HAFF operates as a perpetual investment vehicle. From 1 July 2024, a minimum of $500 million per year is transferred from the fund to support housing outcomes, with this amount indexed to the Consumer Price Index from 2029–30 onward. The fund’s stated objective is to help deliver at least 40,000 new social and affordable homes by 2029, including dedicated support for women and children affected by domestic and family violence, older women at risk of homelessness, remote Indigenous communities, veterans, and frontline workers.

Funding under the HAFF plays a broader role in the Australian Government’s housing reform agenda, which also includes a national target of 1.2 million new well-located homes. Funding is delivered through a combination of grants, availability payments, concessional loans and HAFF senior debt to eligible Community Housing Providers (CHPs), state and territory governments, First Nations housing providers and private sector partners.

Key Grant Details

• Grant amount or funding range: Availability payments are indicatively expected to sit between $17,500 and $23,500 per dwelling, per year, for up to 25 years, varying by funding stream. Concessional loans and HAFF senior debt are also available depending on the stream and applicant type.
• Application open and close dates: Funding Round 3 opened for submissions on 30 January 2026 across all four streams. There is no fixed closing date; expressions of interest are assessed on a rolling, first-come basis, and each stream closes once its dwelling allocation is exhausted.
• Eligible industries or business types: Registered Community Housing Providers (CHPs), First Nations housing providers, specialist housing providers, local governments, state and territory governments, and private developers or institutional investors partnering with an eligible funding recipient.
• Required co-contributions: Applicants are generally expected to demonstrate organisational and financial capacity, and in many cases combine HAFF funding with state government contributions, CHP equity or external financing. Specific co-contribution requirements vary by stream.
• Location/state/territory applicability: National. The fund applies across all Australian states and territories, with delivery volumes weighted toward jurisdictions with the greatest population and housing need, including New South Wales.

Priority Sectors

The HAFF is not open to a broad, unrestricted range of sectors. It is specifically directed at the social and affordable housing sector, with priority cohorts explicitly named in program guidance:

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander households and First Nations-led housing providers
• Women and children affected by domestic and family violence
• Older women on low incomes at risk of homelessness
• Veterans experiencing or at risk of homelessness
• Remote Indigenous communities requiring housing repair, maintenance or improvement
• Frontline workers requiring affordable rental housing

Funding Scope

Funding Round 3 is delivered through four dedicated streams, each with different scale, blend and eligibility settings:

• Stream 1 – First Nations: $600 million allocated to First Nations-led housing providers to deliver social homes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander households.
• Stream 2 – Housing Diversity: A minimum of 3,750 dwellings nationally, with each application required to deliver a fixed 50% social and 50% affordable housing split. Open to CHPs, First Nations and veterans’ housing providers, and local governments, with an emphasis on regional and metropolitan diversity.
• Stream 3 – States and Territories: Delivered in partnership with state and territory governments, with a fixed 90% social and 10% affordable dwelling split. Applicants are capped to a maximum of two metropolitan and one regional application.
• Stream 4 – Partnerships at Scale: Targets institutional investor partnerships for large-scale delivery, with a fixed 90% affordable and 10% social split. Applications must cover between 500 and 2,500 dwellings, with a national target of 8,000 dwellings under this stream.

Across all streams, funding is intended to support delivery from 2027 through to completion by 30 June 2029, with 10% of social dwellings in Streams 2 and 4 required to be dedicated to First Nations households.

Eligibility Criteria

• Applicant must be a registered Community Housing Provider, First Nations housing provider, specialist housing provider, local government, state or territory government, or a private developer partnering with an eligible funding recipient.
• Housing enablers, such as private developers, cannot apply independently and must partner with an eligible funding recipient such as a registered CHP.
• Projects must be well-located, meaning they provide reasonable proximity to employment, schools, transport and other essential amenities.
• Applicants must demonstrate sufficient organisational and financial capacity to deliver the proposed project, including evidence of delivery track record where relevant.
• For access to a Concessional Loan, applicants are generally required to meet additional financial and credit assessment requirements set by Housing Australia.
• Projects must confirm a construction programme that supports operational commencement by 30 June 2029.
• Detailed applications require a full funding model breakdown, including HAFF contribution, state funding support, CHP contribution and any external financing sought.

Eligible Activities and Expenses

• Construction and delivery of new social housing dwellings
• Construction and delivery of new affordable housing dwellings
• Repair, maintenance and improvement of housing in remote Indigenous communities
• Development of transitional housing for people affected by domestic and family violence
• Housing delivery for veterans experiencing or at risk of homelessness
• Project feasibility, design and planning costs directly associated with an approved application
• Partnership and co-investment arrangements between CHPs, state governments and private financiers

Assessment Process

Funding Round 3 uses a non-competitive, open and on-demand assessment model rather than a fixed competitive round. The process is delivered in two stages:

1. Expression of Interest (EOI): A shorter-form submission assessed against eligibility and evaluation criteria, in the order received. Outcomes are typically communicated approximately four weeks after submission.
2. Detailed Application: A more comprehensive submission requiring detailed supporting evidence, including a full financial evaluation and credit assessment for any Concessional Loan or HAFF Senior Debt component.

Key evaluation considerations include project location and accessibility, delivery capability and financial capacity, alignment with fixed social and affordable dwelling ratios for the relevant stream, and confirmation of a realistic delivery timeline to June 2029. Some jurisdictions, such as Queensland, run their own linked partnership rounds to select projects for inclusion in the state’s Stream 3 submission.

Recent Program Updates

• Round 3 opened on 30 January 2026 as the largest funding round to date under the HAFF, targeting the remaining 21,350 dwellings required to reach the national target of 40,000 homes by 2029.
• Housing Australia has reported a strong market response, with a high volume of EOIs submitted to the Housing Diversity and Partnerships at Scale streams.
• Housing Australia is consolidating all social and affordable housing funding products under a single HAFF brand to simplify navigation and improve coordination with states, territories and the community housing sector.
• As at December 2024, the fund itself had grown to approximately $10.885 billion in value, reflecting investment returns since establishment.

Application Tips

• Confirm which of the four Round 3 streams matches the applicant’s organisation type and project scale before preparing a submission.
• Prepare organisational and financial capacity documentation early, including delivery track record and any existing relationships with state housing agencies.
• Ensure proposed projects meet the “well-located” requirement, with clear evidence of proximity to transport, employment and amenities.
• Align the funding model breakdown with the fixed social and affordable dwelling ratios that apply to the chosen stream.
• Submit the Expression of Interest promptly, as assessment is conducted on a rolling basis and funding closes once each stream’s dwelling allocation is exhausted.
• Where a Concessional Loan is sought, prepare financial statements and credit information in advance to support the assessment stage.

Where to Get Help

Consider consulting a grant specialist like Pattens Group for a personalised eligibility assessment and expert assistance in preparing a strong, compliant and competitive application. Contact us today and get connected with Australia’s best grant specialist, boasting over 35 years of experience in the industry and a 100% success rate. For official guidelines, application details, templates, and further information, visit the official website of the Housing Australia Future Fund and other associated Australian government websites.