The Business Case for Social Housing as Infrastructure

Compared to standard infrastructure assessments, establishing social housing outcomes are more complex and multifaceted. This research investigated various business case frameworks for funding social housing as infrastructure, including using cost-benefit analysis (CBA) and other alternatives, in order to develop stronger analytical methodologies. The ‘avoided cost’ approach estimates whole-of-government savings across portfolios, avoiding assigning financial value to the ‘intangible’ dimensions of housing that a CBA would typically calculate. The ‘housing adjusted life years’ (HALY) methodology sees social housing as a welfare/ public health intervention which improves life expectancy and quality of life.