In September, Dan McKenna landed a new role in housing after seven years with Nightingale Housing, where he was chief executive.
He’s now the inaugural chief executive of Housing All Australians, a group co-founded by Robert Pradolin.
McKenna said he wanted to explore new challenges and opportunities that expanded on the impact created at Nightingale, which had recently completed Nightingale Marrickville, Preston and Nightingale Village Wurru wurru biik.
The new gig is a charity dedicated to ending homelessness and putting roofs over people’s heads. McKenna is due to step into his new shoes on 20 January. A media statement from the organisation said it was impressed by McKenna’s ability to demonstrate that its PRADS (progressive residential affordability solution) model would be viable for increasing affordable housing supply, thanks to the experience demonstrated by Nightingale Housing.
The model involves creating a significant supply of privately owned rental housing to be rented below market rates for at least 30 years without government assistance. The model aims to incentivise the private sector to collaborate with the government to develop affordable housing through increasing development density and negotiating outcomes of rezoning applications.
Rental would be subject to a restrictive covenant, which would remain on the title for the agreed period before it returns to market unrestricted.
According to the organisation, McKenna’s track record was particularly impressive in implementing innovative housing solutions, increasing affordable housing from 5 per cent to 15 per cent in collaboration with the City of Merri-bek while maintaining project viability – proving the HAA’s solution can be scaled nationwide.
Prior to Nightingale housing, worked at Breath Architecture for four years, lectured and taught at Monash University and at the animation studio Flood for a short stint before moving to Nightingale.
McKenna will be crucial to the organisation’s focus on mobilising the private sector to address Australia’s housing crisis – as someone who demonstrated that values-driven development can create both commercial success and significant social impact.
“The housing affordability crisis demands innovative solutions that bring together diverse stakeholders across sectors,” McKenna said.
“Having implemented the PRADS model at Nightingale and been across the evolution of the PRADS register, which has garnered full industry support, I’ve seen firsthand how an innovation like PRADS can unlock affordable essential worker housing at scale.
“I agree with HAA’s position that Australia’s housing crisis is too big for government to solve alone. It must actively engage the private sector and the entire existing property ecosystem. With an additional 1 million social and affordable homes needed by 2041, Housing All Australians’ approach to catalysing private sector engagement represents a game-changing approach to addressing this national challenge.”
Robert Pradolin said, “His experience working with local government to create planning value that subsidises affordable housing makes him the ideal leader to help scale the PRADS model nationally.”
HAA’s goals are to:
- grow a list of compassionate capitalists, continue to create transitional housing in unused buildings across Australia
- continue to secure donated goods and services from the private sector to help vulnerable Australians
- scale the PRADS model nationally through collaboration with local government
According to HAA, the PRADS model offers many advantages, including:
- more affordable housing without impacting a developer’s feasibility
- unlock private sector capital by leveraging subsidies across more affordable housing and have the investor pay the balance
- allowing developers to manage properties themselves or choose a private sector real estate agent or community housing provider
- its application to any form of dwelling: apartment, townhouse or house and land
- helping key workers to live close to employment
- a diversified funding base for the affordable housing sector without government support
- affordable housing obligation that lasts for 30 years or on a negotiated term
- the register allows the government to monitor the obligations of all stakeholders