NSW Government dedicates $450 million to building 400 build-to-rent homes for essential workers

The NSW Government will inject $450 million into building new apartments for essential workers in an effort to prevent young people from leaving Sydney to more affordable areas.

Essential workers that are being priced out of the market will have access to homes offered at a discount to market rent, ensuring they can live and work in the same community.

Landcom, a government-owned property developer, will acquire 4 sites to build more than 400 new build-to-rent dwellings in the next 3 years.

NSW Premier Chris Minns said, “Housing affordability and availability is the biggest single pressure facing the people of NSW, with mortgage payments or rent the largest expense for most households, particularly for essential workers.”

“NSW would grind to a halt without nurses, paramedics, teachers, police officers and firefighters, but many can’t afford a place to live in Sydney, close to where they work. This has to change,” he continued.

While the discounts have not been decided, the premier suggested they would be close to 20 per cent.

“We can offer competitive rates because the government will own the land. It will be the builder of the project,” he told media.

“Any profits that come about as a result of the project will be reinvested so that we can potentially envisage stage two or stage three of this.”

Treasurer Daniel Mookhey said it was a “must-have policy” that “will give hospital staff on nightshift, police patrolling until late and so many other essential workers the chance to live near where they work.”

Eligibility criteria will be available closer to the completion of the first project, expected in 2027.