Assemble Model

The Assemble Model was developed in response to an increasingly difficult market for first home buyers in Melbourne and beyond. The model was inspired by this challenge, together with the lack of rental stability that many renters currently face throughout Australian cities and the inherent housing anxiety that comes with this experience. There have been numerous design challenges along the way, from how the model is communicated to the public, through to the lack of local precedents to help us develop a service offering that is bespoke and responsive to the Australian context.

The Assemble Model responds to these design challenges in a number of ways. The new pathway allows residents to lease their home for 5 years while they save to buy. Their rent is agreed up-front and their purchase price is also fixed, giving them stability while they save. All while having the freedom to leave the lease or decide not to buy if their circumstances change. Residents are able to live in their home and community before choosing to buy and are supported through a range of opt-in resident services, such as free -of-charge financial coaching, bulk-buying and community-building initiatives.

Since launching the Assemble Model in 2018, we have had an overwhelming response from the public, industry and government and have since received over 3,000 registrations of interest for our pilot project at 393 Macaulay Rd, Kensington. In November, 2018 we ran a ballot process to allocate the available apartments at 393 Macaulay Rd and the project received over 300 applications for the 66 available apartments. It has been fascinating to see how our future residents have embraced an entirely new concept, signed their documentation and are now just as excited as we are about what lies ahead.

There are a number of key features that define the Assemble Model and our early (and continued) engagement process with our residents is fundamental to the success of the approach. We hold community presentations and seek feedback from our residents along the way to help inform the ultimate design outcome and service offering for our residents - and this is key to ensuring what we offer meets their requirements and aspirations. In an effort to further respond to the challenge of housing affordability, we will also be offering 10% of the dwellings within all our projects to key service workers with a 20% discount applied on their rent over the 5-year lease. The eligibility criteria for the key worker allocation will be defined in collaboration with the respective local council within which our projects are located.