Evolve Housing is an award-winning community housing provider delivering housing solutions and services that support people to achieve their potential and aspirations.
Evolve Housing is one of the largest not-for-profit housing providers in Australia, managing about 3,700 properties and providing housing for about 7,800 residents who would otherwise be facing homelessness or housing stress.
It has a strong presence in western Sydney, and its two offices are in Parramatta and Penrith.
It provides subsidised housing to people living on very low to moderate incomes who are unable to pay for appropriate housing in the private market.
It achieves this by forging mutually beneficial partnerships with government, developers and investors to create new community housing stock to help meet growing demand.
Evolve Housing’s properties cater to a diverse range of needs, household sizes and incomes so that people in need across all ages and backgrounds can access housing that suits them.
Needs of young people
It has a division specifically devoted to the needs of young people, called Evolve Housing for Youth, which provides transitional housing and specialist youth work support to people aged 16-24 years old.
It is also a registered Specialist Disability Accommodation provider and accredited under the NSW Disability Service Standards.
In early 2019, Evolve Housing won the tender to deliver the Opportunity Pathways program in the Nepean Blue Mountains and South Western Sydney Districts.
This program is funded by the NSW Government Department of Communities and Justice and provides support to social housing clients to enter into sustainable employment.
In 2017, Evolve Housing became a trailblazer in the community housing sector by launching the first not-for-profit real estate agency in NSW, called Echo Realty.
Echo Realty specialises in affordable property management and celebrated the milestone of managing 1000 affordable properties in May 2019.
It manages affordable housing stock owned by Evolve Housing, along with stock owned by developers, landlords, government divisions or other not-for-profit organisations. It also manages non-affordable housing on behalf of private landlords for a competitive fee.
The profits made by Echo Realty are channelled back into Affordable housing stock Evolve Housing to fund the creation of more social and affordable housing stock, and the delivery of social support programs.
More than simply putting a roof over peoples’ heads, Evolve Housing is dedicated to creating thriving communities and providing tailored support to help residents achieve their aspirations.
Evolve Housing also provides tailored support to all its residents to help them meet their personal, wellbeing, educational and employment goals.
Residents are each given the opportunity to have their personal needs assessed by a specialist support worker upon entry to housing, and if they choose to take up this offer, a personalised support plan is created for them that may include referrals to external service providers.
In addition, Evolve offers a range of programs including financial support (grants for students and to assist young people to get involved with sport), workshops on topics including money management and digital skills, a calendar of social activities throughout the year, and assistance accessing training and employment support.
