At its meeting on 6 December 2016 Council resolved to put the draft Affordable Housing Policy on public exhibition to seek community comment.

Policy Purpose

It supports Council to

• acquire a fair share of the increase in land values resulting from planning decisions* in order to increase affordable rental housing
• create more affordable housing on public land

via a number of methods including

• changes to the planning system
• a 15 per cent affordable housing target on large developments
• an affordable housing target of 30 per cent on government owned land in urban renewal areas such as The Bays Precinct

*Planning decisions/processes such as rezoning and Voluntary Planning Agreements with developers.

Background

Council’s research shows that the inner west has experienced some of the most rapid real increases in housing prices (rental and purchase) over the past decade, with accelerating trends in recent years. Even the lowest priced strata dwellings are no longer affordable to very low and low income households, and are generally affordable only to the upper end of the moderate income band.

This is leading to serious impacts on the social and economic fabric of the local community. These impacts include:

• A large, disproportionate and growing number of local people in housing stress who are sacrificing basic necessities to pay for their housing costs;
• A considerable displacement of historical populations through ongoing gentrification and non-replacement of affordable and lower cost housing;
• Very high current and projected levels of unmet need for affordable housing among workers in emergency services and the community services sector as well as among more vulnerable groups such as aged pensioners and people with a disability.

This draft policy is part of a larger set of actions to increase the supply of affordable housing in the local government area.

Policy Documents

Have your say

Online - using the form below

Mail - to Inner West Council, PO Box 14, Petersham, NSW 2049 Please use the reference 16/SF738

The closing date for submissions is 13 February 2017.

What happens next?

Comments close on 13 February 2017. A report on the submissions received will be prepared and the Policy, along with any amendments, will be submitted to the next Council meeting on 28 February 2017 for endorsement.