Image: Elias Bitar, Shutterstock
by JASMINE SIMMONS
In an effort to combat the ongoing housing crisis, a Sydney councillor has pushed for councils to be able to require developers to build affordable housing on-site.
Currently, the NSW Government largely controls whether and how local councils can require affordable housing to be built in new developments.
Despite the City of Sydney having one of the most comprehensive affordable housing strategies of any council in Australia, housing affordability in the Local Government Area (LGA) continues to go backwards, and is projected to worsen unless there are major changes.
In the City of Sydney council meeting held on February 19, Greens Councillor Sylvie Ellsmore asked the council for power to force developers to build affordable housing in new developments.
“This is not a hard change to make. It is straightforward,” Cr Ellsmore told City Hub.
According to Cr Ellsmore, the NSW Government would be required to grant the City of Sydney Council permission to update planning rules under the Local Environmental Plan.
This would ensure that developers are restricted to building only affordable housing under the Council’s rule.
“Most people think Council already has this power – we don’t, but we could have, if we update our rules, and the State Government agrees,” stated Cr Ellsmore.
Developers currently pay a small affordable housing contribution of 1-3 per cent in the City when working on a development.
Cr Ellsmore said that “if we were in other international cities like London, the Council would force the developers to build the affordable housing, and it wouldn’t just be 3 per cent, it would be 25 per cent.”
Cr Ellsmore addresses in the motion that the council should have control over how the contributions are paid and what they should be used towards.
“Often getting the contribution in the form of buildings is a much better deal for the city,” said Cr Ellsmore.
“It means housing goes up fast. Importantly, it also ensures a better diversity of incomes for the future tenants in the development. We want that.”
With Sydney currently being one of the most expensive cities in the world to live in, existing public, social, and affordable housing needs to be protected or otherwise accessible to people on low and middle incomes.
“Ideally, we want all developments to include some affordable housing,” said Cr Ellsmore.
“We want communities to have a good mix of people, and especially when lots of new apartments are being built, some of them at least should be affordable.”
The motion outcome saw the Lord Mayor and Liberal Councillors vote to defer the discussion surrounding planning for affordable housing.
“The affordable housing crisis is urgent,” said Cr Ellsmore.
“Now isn’t the time to be moving slowly.”
