NOT A SUBSTITUTE BUT A STEPPING-STONE: Meanwhile-use housing

Link Wentworth backs the benefits of meanwhile-use housing with two successful projects in NSW as proof. Eva Gerencer provides us with the details.

It’s widely acknowledged that further social and affordable housing supply will ease the housing crisis – and it’s true. Yet the scale of the current crisis implores us to try multiple solutions. One of these is meanwhile-us­­e, which experts ¹ and government recommend as a viable and strategic way to immediately accommodate the most vulnerable Australians.

Meanwhile-use refers to medium-term affordable housing delivered in otherwise vacant properties, such as those waiting planning approvals.

At Link Wentworth, we've had firsthand experience of the enormous effectiveness of meanwhile-use through our projects in Beecroft and Mosman. Run in partnership with Women’s Community Shelters (WCS) and Twilight Aged Care, both these properties provide affordable rentals to women over the age of 55 years.

Five years into this experiment, and we're celebrating their success with a call for meanwhile-use to be more widely adopted as a worthwhile piece of the wider puzzle.

Seizing an opportunity

In 2018, as Twilight Aged Care waited on planning approvals to renovate a former aged care facility in Beecroft, the aged care provider approached WCS to see if they could use the otherwise vacant property to house women facing homelessness. WCS called upon our tenancy expertise as one of their long-term partners to help bring it to life.

What followed was a year of community consultation and clever renovations before Beecroft House was opened up to residents in August 2019.

“We were thrilled to partner with WCS and Twilight Aged Care on this project,” says Chief Customer Officer Margaret Maljkovic. “It was a new venture for us, but we could immediately see the huge benefits of the meanwhile-use model in our current housing crisis, especially for women over 55.”

Between 2011 and 2021, rates of homelessness among older women have ballooned by almost 40% ² . Through the Beecroft House meanwhile-use project, up to 20 women – many who have lived full lives contributing to their communities or acting as caretakers – have access to housing on a two-year, fixed term lease while they wait for social housing.

After the first year of the Beecroft House project, the partners undertook an Australian Social Value Bank calculation, showing net benefits of $394,202 with a benefit cost ratio of 3.07.

The success of Beecroft House was mirrored in 2020 with the opening of Mosman House, again in partnership with WCS, Link Wentworth and Twilight Aged Care. Mosman House provides 18 units to older women in another highly desirable suburb of Sydney, close to transport and amenities, as well as national parks and beaches.

Very safe and very secure

For the women who live in these meanwhile-use properties, it’s more than just a roof over their heads. In 2022, Mosman House resident Claire* told us that she found a lot of comfort living at the property.

“They were really caring when I came here, and supportive,” she said of WCS and Link Wentworth. “It's just given me a place to ground myself and be, with everything that's going on around me.”

Claire said she enjoys the communal nature of living at Mosman House. Similar to the Beecroft House property, the women have their own bedroom and living space but share a kitchen, while dedicated support workers regularly engage residents in activities: “They're just constantly thinking of ways to have us involved and having something to do, to make us feel that we're not alone."



Along with housing, residents of Mosman House and Beecroft House are offered access to support services and assistance to find suitable, long-term accommodation.

After the overwhelming stress of facing homelessness, Claire said staying at Mosman House has given her and the other women space to breathe: “I can tell you, a lot of the women were really happy in here, because it took the pressure off, of having to think and find accommodation because it's just too difficult.”

Ivy* told WCS that her time at Mosman House helped to heal her past trauma: “Working with the social worker and psychologist in the last nine months at Mosman House has set me up for a future free from abuse from anybody,” she said. “Now, for me, pride and openness replaces shame and secrecy.”

Stories like Ivy’s and Claire’s prove that meanwhile-use housing, when packaged with wraparound support, can gently prepare people for the next stage of their journey. It shows that a short-term solution can have long-term impacts.

Celebrating five years of meanwhile-use

Link Wentworth CEO Andrew McAnulty acknowledges that meanwhile-use is not a substitute for the stability and security of long-term social housing. However, he says it provides an important stepping-stone and makes use of otherwise empty property.

“Meanwhile-use housing is a creative solution in the current housing market,” he says. “To effectively dig our way out of this housing crisis, we need to apply numerous strategies and pull multiple levers – meanwhile-use is one of them. We know what needs to be done, and Link Wentworth is heavily involved in bolstering long-term housing supply, but we won’t ignore that people need solutions now.”

In 2023, in response to a Parliamentary Inquiry ³ , the NSW Government endorsed further provision of meanwhile-use in the state.

Andrew says he’s proud of Beecroft House and Mosman House projects and their great results. “We would love to see more projects like this come to life,” he says, lamenting there is likely more vacant properties across Australia’s most expensive cities. “A vacant property is a wasted opportunity and could really change someone’s life.”

On 18th July 2024, Link Wentworth, WCS and Twilight Aged Care celebrate five years of success in the meanwhile-use space with an event at their Beecroft property. The event will be officially opened by NSW Minister for Housing & Homelessness, Rose Jackson, with speakers including NSW Rental Commissioner Trina Jones and other industry stakeholders.