NRCF Housing Catalyst Fund

The Northern Rivers urgently needs more affordable housing. Promising projects exist, and capital is available to build them, but too many projects stall before they are ready for construction finance.

Northern Rivers Community Foundation invites you to a working lunch at Habitat Byron Bay to introduce the NRCF Housing Catalyst Fund: a practical, long-term funding model designed to unlock affordable housing projects across our region. The Fund will provide the early-stage capital needed to take suitable projects through planning and design to development approval (DA). This is the critical “DA gap” between a promising housing proposal and an investment-ready project.

Our vision is to:

• Unlock capital - every $1 spent getting a project to DA unlocks more than $20 in construction funding.

• Create permanently affordable housing - with affordability linked to household income wherever possible.

• Recycle funding - DA costs are recouped and reinvested to deliver the next project.

• Deliver long-term impact - raise $3 million in catalytic capital and recycle it over 10 years to enable more than 200 affordable homes, with a further 100 in the pipeline.

This is an ambitious but achievable response to arguably the most pressing challenge facing the Northern Rivers. It draws on NRCF’s regional knowledge and experience in combining philanthropy, community, and practical solutions.

We will share the Fund’s proposed structure, its pathway to impact, and the opportunity for Founding Partners to help establish it.

We are convening a small group of people who understand our region, recognise the need for new approaches, and share our ambition for what this Fund can achieve. If there is someone in your network who you believe would bring valuable perspective to this conversation, or who may be interested in supporting the Fund, we warmly invite you to share this invitation with them.

Event Details:

Thursday 24 September
12:00pm - 2:00pm
Habitat Workspace Boardroom, 1 Porter Street, Byron Bay NSW

Lunch will be provided. RSVPs are essential.

We hope you can join us.