Homeless Salvation · funding case
How the money works — and where it comes back
A charitable land trust: the charity holds the land forever, people build their own homes on it with salvaged parts, and pay them off over time. This is what the first $1,000,000 buys, and how it keeps working long after.
Recommended raise
$2,000,000
$1,000,000 is the bare-minimum pilot. $2,000,000 is the recommended target — it funds the blended approach below, which gets people housed fast and de-risks the whole project.
Location — the Riverland, not Aldinga
Aldinga Arts Eco Village proves South Australians want this — 350 people, shared common land, private homes — but it is built out, expensive, and on community title you would join, not found, and could not put the land into your own trust. The Riverland (Loxton, Berri, Barmera, Waikerie, Renmark) is where it can actually be built: cheap land, towns that already have power/water/sewer, schools, shops and hospitals, and real work in citrus, almonds, wine and tourism. That work is what makes people stay — the thing a remote Mallee block can't offer. Target a town that still has a school, a shop, a hospital and jobs, and cheap existing housing — Barmera, Waikerie or Loxton are strong starting candidates (confirm prices with local agents: Ray White Riverland, Elders Waikerie, First National Marschall).
Budget — raise $2,000,000
$1M funds only a thin self-build pilot. $2M funds the blended strategy, which is far more likely to succeed because it puts visible, occupied homes on the ground in year one rather than waiting years for self-builds.
Strategy — revive a cluster, then self-build alongside
Buy and renovate a cluster of cheap existing houses (often under $200k in shrinking river/Mallee towns) so people move in almost immediately — instant, visible community that attracts the next residents. Hold self-build land beside it for people who want to build their own with salvaged parts (the work sheet). Both sit in the trust; residents pay off at 30% of income. Fast proof of concept + the long-term model, together. This is also your own "buy a run-down area, fix it, draw people, land value rises" start-plan made real.
Phasing
Land, houses & setup
Register the trust, buy the house cluster + self-build land, lay/confirm services, lodge approvals, revive the first homes.
Self-builds + revolving fund
First self-build homes go up; residents begin repaying at 30%; repayments start cycling into the next homes.
Scale / next town
Revolving fund + new grant rounds fund more land and homes here, or seed a second town.
1Where the money goes
Two scenarios. Each line is tagged by how it behaves afterwards — permanent (a lasting asset, never sold), revolving (repaid and re-used to build the next homes), or consumed (ongoing running cost).
Minimum pilot · $1M · self-build only (~20 homes)
A serviceable rural block within ~2 hrs of Adelaide. Cheap Mallee/regional land sells from well under $1,000/ha; a block near a town with services available costs more. Never resold — it stays the trust's permanent home for people to build on.
The mains every home taps into. Utility connections run roughly $2k–$12k per service; rural septic, bores, tanks and access add more. A fixed asset that serves every future home.
The unglamorous but essential scaffolding that makes the charity legal and the builds insurable and approved.
~$15k fronted per home (the "provided free · repaid later" items from the work sheet) × ~20 first homes. This is the money that comes back and rebuilds.
Pays the people who run it and the skilled supervision that lets residents safely self-build, until repayments and grants cover ongoing costs.
~6% buffer for site surprises, reactive soil, price moves.
★ Recommended · $2M · blended (revive + self-build)
Shrinking river/Mallee towns have whole houses often under $200k. People move in fast — instant occupied community.
Residents repay at 30% of income → cycles into more homes.
Land beside the cluster for people who want to build their own.
~10 self-build homes at ~$15k fronted each.
Why this is the recommendation: ~8–10 houses occupied in year one (visible proof + a community people want to join), plus ~10 self-build plots and a revolving fund already turning — for double the money but far more than double the certainty of success.
2What happens to each dollar
Three behaviours
Permanent
$450k
Land + shared infrastructure. Bought once, never sold. It doesn't return as cash — it becomes the lasting asset that serves every home built now and forever. This is the part that stops prices ever drifting up.
Revolving
$300k
The build costs fronted per home. Residents repay them — at 30% of income, or when they sell the home on at its determined value. The repayments flow back in and front the next batch of homes. The same money builds again and again.
Consumed
$250k
Setup, legal, wages, supervision, contingency. Genuine running cost, funded by donations and grants. A founder/coordinator can draw a fair wage here for the work — but no one pockets profit on the homes.
3The money cycle
Why it compounds
The $300k revolving pool isn't spent once — it's recovered and re-lent. As the first homes are paid off, the same money fronts the next batch:
Repayment is slow (set by income), so this plays out over years, not months — but every dollar of build cost works many times over. The land bought once carries all of them.
4The honest parts
Read before committing money
- $1M is a seed, not the whole answer. It funds a pilot that proves the model, gets the first homes occupied, and starts the revolving fund. Scaling up needs more land rounds — but each is a one-time buy that then serves people permanently.
- Charity money can't become private profit. Under ACNC rules a registered charity's surplus must serve its purpose. A founder/coordinator can be paid a fair wage for real work; no one takes the profit on the houses.
- Investors who want a return need a different structure. A charity can accept donations, grants, and repayable no-profit loans. If someone wants profit on their money, that needs a separate social-enterprise/impact vehicle alongside the charity — get legal advice first.
- The land held in trust is the safeguard. Because the charity keeps the land off the market, the homes can't be bought up or flipped — fixing the "watering down" that has undone open communes before.
- Who actually builds matters. People in deep crisis often can't self-build, which is why the budget pays for skilled supervision and licensed trades — that is what the fronted/operating money is for.
This document lays out a funding structure and indicative figures only. It is not legal, accounting, or financial advice. Before raising or spending money, have the structure reviewed by a community-housing lawyer and a charity accountant, and confirm land, services, and approval costs for the specific site with a town planner. Figures are starting estimates and will move with the site chosen.