DHA's response

Provisioning schedule

DHA responds to the DHF with a draft provisioning schedule that takes into account factors such as vacancy rates, lease-ends, land-supply, availability of capital and the state of private rental markets. Following negotiation, DHA is contracted to supply an agreed level of housing through an approved provisioning schedule. DHA generally aims to meet 85% of the Defence requirement with the balance satisfied by private rentals where members receive their housing entitlement as a Rent Allowance (RA). For 2012–13, based on the 2011–12 forecast, Defence approved a program under which DHA would supply 17,567 dwellings that, after allowing for vacancies, would accommodate 16,268 Defence families. A further 3,359 families were expected to be accommodated in the private rental market.

Capital program

The capital program sets out how DHA will meet its obligations to Defence as agreed in the provisioning schedule. It takes into account expiring leases, lease extensions and renewals, direct leasing outcomes, the purchase of new dwellings and DHA’s land acquisition and construction program. The result is a large residential development, construction, acquisition and disposal program that must be approved by the DHA Board. A short description of major projects in the 2012–13 capital program is at the end of this chapter.

In its 2012–13 capital program, DHA constructed or purchased 590 new dwellings for Members With Dependants at a cost of $305.0 million. DHA direct leased 167 properties from private investors, wrote new leases on 342 existing properties where leases and options had expired and extended 203 leases by agreement before lease expiry. After taking into account expired leases and the exercise of 978 options at DHA’s discretion, total stock for Defence members and their families was 17,507, which met the key performance measure for housing provisioning.

Major land acquisitions

The acquisition of suitable cost-effective land for Defence housing is an ongoing priority. DHA has responded to a general shortage of retail land in reasonable proximity to Defence bases and establishments by acquiring, where appropriate, greenfield development sites. In this regard, a number of significant land purchases were reported in the two previous Annual Reports including Warner Springs in Brisbane. Contracted in 2011–12, the first tranche was not settled until June 2013 following the completion of environmental remediation and other works that remained the responsibility of the vendor. The second and final tranche will be settled in 2013– 14. DHA is in discussion with State and Territory Governments regarding access to surplus land close to Defence bases. In 2012–13, DHA reached an agreement with the Queensland Government to acquire land close to Gallipoli Barracks, Enoggera, in consideration of which DHA has agreed to construct 17 apartments for the Queensland Government. DHA will also build 49 accommodation units for Defence on the acquired land. DHA now has sufficient well-located and competitively priced land to sustain its construction program in most key locations for the medium-term.