New Ainslie development built for vulnerable women coming in 2022

A new 10-unit development, dubbed YHomes and slated for Ainslie, designed to provide affordable and stable homes for elderly women and women escaping domestic violence.

Not-for-profit organisation YWCA Canberra had considered the idea of building a facility on block 1, section 87 on Rutherford Crescent for four years, chief executive Frances Crimmins said.

The organisation bought the land in 1993 and holds a 99-year lease on it to deliver activities and childcare.

The block was previously used as a meeting place for women, co-ordinating family daycare, a youth centre and counselling service.

YHomes will offer eight studio units and two two-bedroom units. Residents will have on-site parking with common grounds throughout. All the units will also have their own courtyards.

YWCA Canberra is working with local architecture firm AMC Architecture to create a suitable and fit-for-purpose design for its future tenants.

This comes after the Domain Rent Report showed the median asking rent for a house in Canberra reached a record $500 per week. With the city’s vacancy rate at just 0.8 per cent in April, prospective tenants are feeling the pinch when hunting for a new rental property. 

“With the lack of affordable housing available for women and as a specialist women’s service, we thought the best purpose of the land would be to build a home on it,” Ms Crimmins said.

“YHomes will cater to women aged 55-plus and women with children who may have experienced domestic and family violence.”

The project, which will cost more than $2 million, is expected to be completed in 18 months.

Ms Crimmins said YWCA Canberra has received donations from a variety of philanthropic organisations including Homes for Homes, which donated $100,000 earlier this year.

YWCA Canberra’s charitable property management service, Rentwell, has shown that “most of the tenants” have tertiary qualifications and are retired public servants unable to access the public rental market, Ms Crimmins added.

Rentwell was established in 2019 in a bid to offer affordable housing to support families in need. The service aimed to have 80 properties in the first two years of operation.

“At the moment, we have 41 homes currently leased out and have had almost 100 people who have been housed through Rentwell,” Ms Crimmins said.

“We were hoping to hit 80 homes, so that is still the goal. By July, we expect to have 50 properties.”

The organisation leases properties out at 74.9 per cent of the market rate. In exchange, landlords are exempt from paying land tax under the ACT government’s pilot program.

Ms Crimmins said the latest YHomes project will “fill the gap” in the ACT housing market. 

“[There are] no other purpose-built, independent, affordable rental properties in the ACT specifically designed for women,” she said.

“We’re building this with the intent of it being a forever social housing project. Not something that will be sold off down the track,” Ms Crimmins said.