Business model innovation and scalability in hybrid affordable housing organisations: empirical insights and conceptual reflections from Melbourne, Australia

Abstract

Under pressure from fiscal austerity measures, rapidly rising housing prices and growing wealth disparities, cities are increasingly unable to meet the need for affordable and accessible housing for their citizens. Across many regions, including Australia, the UK, the US and much of mainland Europe, responsibility for the delivery of this housing is being devolved from the government to cross-sectoral partnerships between state, for-profit and not-for-profit actors. At the same time, access to affordable housing in many of these regions has drastically declined. New partnerships, models of delivery and governance structures are emerging in this context, often conceptualized through the lens of organizational hybridity. While literature has substantially unpacked the overarching trend towards organizational hybridity, it hasn’t examined the business models that make this possible. In this paper, we argue that understanding the governance arrangements and partnerships, target populations, prioritization of social and economic values and institutional frameworks within which housing is delivered can elucidate the capacity (or lack thereof) for housing projects and organizations to scale. Understanding these business models reveals the strategies that are currently privileged or constrained in current housing policy, the residents most likely to benefit from existing housing delivery and the pathways that may allow for the scaling of housing solutions.