Leadership insights from Horizon Housing CEO
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Under your leadership Horizon Housing has generated more than $100 million, what were the key factors that have enabled you to achieve this?
Horizon Housing’s success has been due to our ability to deliver programs successfully. With each successful project we’ve built on our reputation, allowing us to secure further funding.
We completed all of our national building projects on time and on budget, so much so that we utilised savings from some projects to deliver additional dwellings.
We’re also a strong partner to both the government and non-government sectors – we’re robust and reliable enough for the government but nimble and efficient enough for the private sector. We’ve created an effective equilibrium that makes us a desirable option.
Horizon Housing is in a phase of growth, how do you ensure that this continues into the future?
We’ve been lucky to-date with a number of government initiatives, like the National Rental Affordability Scheme and the Nation Building and Economic Stimulus programs which have delivered significant growth to Horizon Housing.
The challenge for us is to continue this growth in an environment where government funding is being cut.
One key aspect of our business planning is to diversify our portfolio through partnerships with the private sector. For example, we’re partway through a program of developing over 50 dwellings in regional communities funded by Liquid National Gas (LNG) companies.
How has community support impacted the success of Horizon Housing, and how do you rally this?
It can be a struggle for housing providers to build community support. Developments are often polarising for neighbours, with negative community sentiments making social housing difficult to develop.
That said, we work hard to integrate our developments into the community so that they aren’t immediately recognisable as social housing.
We’ve had success in building community support in regional communities, where affordable housing is less contentious, and we work closely with community groups, neighbourhood centres and local councils across the state to ensure that we’re supporting to the communities in which we live in. We’ve been a major supporter of the Homeless Connect event on the Gold Coast, for instance.
What’s been the biggest hurdle that you’ve faced as the CEO of Horizon Housing and how did you overcome it?
Managing the growth of Horizon Housing has been a challenge since I started in 2006. Since then, we’ve grown over ten times larger. Ensuring that we maintain a high-quality service offering and focus on our clients while rapidly expanding is a challenge.
I think we’ve been successful in doing so through our focus on systems, having a strong management team, and also our responsive decision-making.
Our skills-based board has also helped me ensure we stay focused on our mission and that we’re not over-reaching.
What does the future of Horizon Housing look like?
By 2017, Horizon Housing expects its reach will increase by 300 per cent – from currently offering over 2,400 properties across 15 local government authorities to around 10,000 by 2017. This will likely increase our staff numbers to over 100 in four or more locations.
We will have strong national partnerships with support organisations and private developers. But you can be sure that our focus will’ve remained the same, and that while we will be efficient and professional, our staff will continue to enjoy working with us.
About Jason
As the Chief Executive Officer of Horizon Housing, Jason Cubit is responsible for managing sustainable growth and the diverse company portfolio. Cubit has held previous roles in the government, not-for-profit and corporate sectors.
Cubit possesses qualifications in engineering, project management and corporate governance, and he’s undertaking a Masters of Business Administration.
