The Social and Affordable Housing Fund (SAHF) is a dedicated fund established as a key NSW Government initiative to help address the Social and Affordable Housing shortage in NSW. It seeks to deliver additional Social and Affordable Housing Dwellings through innovative partnerships between CHPs, NGOs and the private sector. The SAHF has been structured to allow for future phases.

The first phase of the SAHF (the Program) provides a unique and long term opportunity for a highly professional entity, or groups of entities, to provide Services for the Social and Affordable Housing sector for up to 25 years.

The Program provides an innovative approach to the delivery of a sustainable Social Housing system in NSW that is services-focussed to achieve high-quality target outcomes for tenants. It is a critical element of the NSW Government’s Social and Affordable Housing reforms detailed in the Future Directions for Social Housing in NSW.

The Program will likely be comprised of multiple Service Packages and presents an opportunity for entities or consortia to work collaboratively with FACS to deliver better outcomes for vulnerable people and to form ongoing partnerships with the non-government and private sectors to deliver those outcomes. Each Service Package will include:
* Accommodation services, including 3,000 new social and affordable housing dwellings in metropolitan areas and regional areas of NSW;
* Asset management services;
* Tenancy management services;
* Tailored support coordination services; and
* Performance and data reporting.

This Invitation for Expression of Interest (EOI) marks the formal commencement of the procurement process for the Program.

The Invitation for EOI seeks submissions from suitably experienced and qualified relevant entities to participate in the EOI process for the Social and Affordable Housing Fund.

In order to participate in the EOI process, including to receive the Invitation for EOI, request and receive clarifications, and to submit an EOI, an entity must either have:

* Registered to participate in the EOI process; or
* Where the entity is a consortium or other such group, have at least one of its members registered to participate in the EOI process.

To register, an entity must first complete the online Registration Form via the SAHF website: http://www.facs.nsw.gov.au/reforms/social-housing/sahf/invitation-for-expression-of-interest.

Registrations will close at 5:00pm Australian Eastern Daylight Time (Sydney) on 29 February 2016.

The Invitation for EOI is now available and has been released to registered entities.

The deadline for submission of EOI responses is 2:00pm AEDT (Sydney) on 15 March 2016.