Affordable Housing Bond Aggregator (AHBA) loans

Transformative finance for community housing providers.

The Affordable Housing Bond Aggregator (AHBA) provides low cost, long-term loans to registered community housing providers (CHPs) to support the provision of more social and affordable housing.

NHFIC funds AHBA loans by issuing its own bonds into the wholesale capital market.  The Australian Government has also provided a $1 billion line of credit facility through which NHFIC may advance initial loans to CHPs prior to issuing bonds.

The AHBA broadly uses a ‘pass-through’ model to provide greater funding certainty and lower finance costs to CHPs. This assists them to expand their operations and the supply of social and affordable housing.

What can AHBA be used for?

  • Acquiring new housing stock
  • Constructing new housing stock
  • Maintaining existing housing stock
  • Assisting with working capital requirements and/or general corporate requirements
  • Refinancing existing debts

 

Mixed tenure developments may also be considered subject to lending criteria.

Eligibility criteria

To apply for an AHBA loan, applicants must:

  • be a Community Housing Provider (CHP) registered under a law of, or under a scheme administered by, a State or a Territory
  • have an Australian Business Number (ABN)
  • have an Australian bank account
  • legally constituted and do you exist at the date of lodging this form

 

If you meet the above criteria, please submit an EOI form.

To find out how to register as a CHP please visit NRSCH website.

How to apply

How our application process works:

  1. Consider the AHBA Guidelines 
  2. Submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) via the NHFIC website. You can complete the EOI form here
  3. NHFIC Origination team will contact you to discuss your EOI

  4. Register for an account on the Online Application Portal (OAP) here

  5. Submit an application and supporting documentation via the OAP. You can do this by clicking on “Apply Now” after you have signed into the OAP 

  6. NHFIC will assess the application and determine key financing terms and conditions 

  7. NHFIC will notify applicants of the outcome in writing. 

What documents are needed to support an application?

Documents you will need to accompany an AHBA loan application include but are not limited to:

  • CHP registration and compliance
  • evidence the loan supports affordable housing outcomes
  • demonstrated financial viability
  • details of assets offered as security
  • details of any private sector finance
  • details of any government assistance or support.

 

Need more information?

If you are interested in applying for an AHBA loan, we encourage you to first read the AHBA guidelines to find out more about the application process, terms and conditions.

If you have further questions refer to our AHBA factsheet or contact NHFIC Origination here.

CHP financial model

A new financial model for community housing providers (CHPs) is now available. The CHP financial model is a Microsoft Excel based tool designed to accommodate common activities undertaken by the CHP sector, providing a uniform framework that can be used by to provide historical and forecast financial information to NHFIC during the loan origination and ongoing management processes.

Download the CHP financial model (15.2mb)

Ready to enquire?

Complete the Expression of Interest form.