A $260 million project to build up to new affordable, social and private housing units at Glebe-Ultimo will address the citys affordable housing shortage, NSW Premier Morris Iemma and Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore MP announced today.
Housing Minister Matt Brown and Ms Moore today officially signed a Memorandum of Understanding committing the City of Sydney and the NSW Government to a partnership to develop affordable housing on a 3.6 hectare site in Glebe.
"We need new ways to tackle the problems low to moderate income families are having accessing affordable rental stock across Sydney, and elsewhere in NSW,"Mr Iemma said.
"It is important that the three tiers of government work to address this issue, and I have welcomed the Rudd Labor Governments substantial policy and funding commitments to help make this happen over the next few years.
"This project is part of the Governments Metropolitan Strategy and the Inner West Strategy for social housing."
Ms Moore said the project would help to deliver the Citys Sustainable Sydney 2030 vision to offer more affordable housing, contributing to a more diverse and socially cohesive community.
"We are aiming to develop new models of affordable housing which can be replicated around Australia. We want to ensure a healthy mix of accommodation types, not a segregated city with an increasing gulf between the haves and the have-nots,"Ms Moore said.
"There is an urgent need for more affordable housing close to the city, to ensure people employed in essential services can afford to live close to where they work. Housing affordability is an increasing problem in inner Sydney as rents continue to rise and the vacancy rate for rental properties is now at a record low.
"As in other major cities around the world, it is increasingly difficult for people employed in essential services to live close to work, making it difficult to attract and retain key workers."
The first stage of the project is to engage urban design experts to undertake a joint master planning process which will:
Review existing planning controls;
Identify site uses, public domain uses, building heights and density;
Undertake a commercial assessment for the sites redevelopment including funding models and partnerships; and
Implement a comprehensive community consultation plan.
"To show we are serious about affordable housing, the City of Sydney is contributing a site worth about $30 million in inner Sydney - an area with some of the most valuable real estate in the country, to implement the Sustainable Sydney 2030 affordable housing strategy,"Ms Moore said.
"By working with the Iemma Government we want to demonstrate that it is possible to offer innovative, high quality, well designed and sustainable but affordable housing in the inner city."
The site flagged for development includes the City of Sydneys 20,000 square metre Bay St Depot Site and an adjacent 16,000 square metre site (bounded by Bay, Wentworth and Cowper Sts, Glebe) owned by the NSW Government and containing existing social housing.
"All current public housing residents in the identified site will be supported throughout the projects construction,"Mr Brown said.
"Housing NSW will have specialist staff speaking to each household about their housing needs into the future and we guarantee them secure accommodation including the option to remain living at the location."
The total cost of the development is expected to exceed $260 million, partially funded by private housing sales, and take up to five years to complete.
Initial project design work has already been undertaken on the site by Hill Thalis Architecture + Urban Projects as part of the Sustainable Sydney 2030 vision.
The redeveloped site will include best standards of design with a broad range of dwelling types for both sale and rent. The proposals to accommodate a diverse population are far-sighted.
The design team will make efficient use of available land, include best practice in environmental sustainability, excellence in urban design and architecture, high quality vibrant public spaces; and encourage alternative transport solutions, minimising car use.
There are about 160,000 people living in the City of Sydney, an increase of more than 50 per cent in the past 10 years. During the past 5 years, about a quarter of the total population growth in the Sydney region occurred in the City.
There are currently 90,000 dwellings in the City which Sustainable Sydney 2030 anticipates will increase to approximately 132,000 dwellings by 2030, consistent with the Metropolitan Strategy target for 2031.
This project will be presented to the Rudd Government as a major opportunity to deliver more affordable housing particularly through their new National Rental Affordability Scheme, and securing more private investment funds to this sector.
The final details of the scheme are being worked on through the COAG Housing Working Group.
A $260 million project to build up to new affordable, social and private housing units at Glebe-Ultimo will address the citys affordable housing shortage, NSW Premier Morris Iemma and Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore MP announced today.
Housing Minister Matt Brown and Ms Moore today officially signed a Memorandum of Understanding committing the City of Sydney and the NSW Government to a partnership to develop affordable housing on a 3.6 hectare site in Glebe.
"We need new ways to tackle the problems low to moderate income families are having accessing affordable rental stock across Sydney, and elsewhere in NSW,"Mr Iemma said.
"It is important that the three tiers of government work to address this issue, and I have welcomed the Rudd Labor Governments substantial policy and funding commitments to help make this happen over the next few years.
"This project is part of the Governments Metropolitan Strategy and the Inner West Strategy for social housing."
Ms Moore said the project would help to deliver the Citys Sustainable Sydney 2030 vision to offer more affordable housing, contributing to a more diverse and socially cohesive community.
"We are aiming to develop new models of affordable housing which can be replicated around Australia. We want to ensure a healthy mix of accommodation types, not a segregated city with an increasing gulf between the haves and the have-nots,"Ms Moore said.
"There is an urgent need for more affordable housing close to the city, to ensure people employed in essential services can afford to live close to where they work. Housing affordability is an increasing problem in inner Sydney as rents continue to rise and the vacancy rate for rental properties is now at a record low.
"As in other major cities around the world, it is increasingly difficult for people employed in essential services to live close to work, making it difficult to attract and retain key workers."
The first stage of the project is to engage urban design experts to undertake a joint master planning process which will:
Review existing planning controls;
Identify site uses, public domain uses, building heights and density;
Undertake a commercial assessment for the sites redevelopment including funding models and partnerships; and
Implement a comprehensive community consultation plan.
"To show we are serious about affordable housing, the City of Sydney is contributing a site worth about $30 million in inner Sydney - an area with some of the most valuable real estate in the country, to implement the Sustainable Sydney 2030 affordable housing strategy,"Ms Moore said.
"By working with the Iemma Government we want to demonstrate that it is possible to offer innovative, high quality, well designed and sustainable but affordable housing in the inner city."
The site flagged for development includes the City of Sydneys 20,000 square metre Bay St Depot Site and an adjacent 16,000 square metre site (bounded by Bay, Wentworth and Cowper Sts, Glebe) owned by the NSW Government and containing existing social housing.
"All current public housing residents in the identified site will be supported throughout the projects construction,"Mr Brown said.
"Housing NSW will have specialist staff speaking to each household about their housing needs into the future and we guarantee them secure accommodation including the option to remain living at the location."
The total cost of the development is expected to exceed $260 million, partially funded by private housing sales, and take up to five years to complete.
Initial project design work has already been undertaken on the site by Hill Thalis Architecture + Urban Projects as part of the Sustainable Sydney 2030 vision.
The redeveloped site will include best standards of design with a broad range of dwelling types for both sale and rent. The proposals to accommodate a diverse population are far-sighted.
The design team will make efficient use of available land, include best practice in environmental sustainability, excellence in urban design and architecture, high quality vibrant public spaces; and encourage alternative transport solutions, minimising car use.
There are about 160,000 people living in the City of Sydney, an increase of more than 50 per cent in the past 10 years. During the past 5 years, about a quarter of the total population growth in the Sydney region occurred in the City.
There are currently 90,000 dwellings in the City which Sustainable Sydney 2030 anticipates will increase to approximately 132,000 dwellings by 2030, consistent with the Metropolitan Strategy target for 2031.
This project will be presented to the Rudd Government as a major opportunity to deliver more affordable housing particularly through their new National Rental Affordability Scheme, and securing more private investment funds to this sector.
The final details of the scheme are being worked on through the COAG Housing Working Group.
