One of the Commonwealth Governments measures to increase housing affordability is the development of an infrastructure fund which will reduce the cost of building a new home through assistance with infrastructure costs and improved development processes.  A consultation paper has been released seeking comment on the structure and targeting of this fund.

• Question 1 - The Housing Affordability Fund targets high growth areas, is this too restrictive?

• Question 2 - What type of projects should be suitable for funding and what level of savings may be generated?

• Question 3 - Are the mandatory criteria appropriate and will applicants be able to provide evidence without substantial cost burden?

• Question 4 - Are the weighted criteria appropriate and will applicants be able to respond to these without a substantial cost burden? How should the criteria be weighted?

• Question 5 - Will the funding available enable a sufficiently wide range of innovative projects to be developed?

• Question 6 - What performance measures should be used to assess the ability of the applicant to deliver savings to homebuyers?

• Question 7 - Are these timelines adequate for proposal development and assessment?

• Question 8 - Does the information requested at the first and second stages assist in keeping the costs of submitting proposals to an acceptable level?

Submissions are due by 17 July 2008.

This paper is available for download at: http://www.facsia.gov.au/internet/facsinternet.nsf/housing/haf.htm