Shelter NSW has criticized the state government’s failure to place housing affordability at the centre of its new Metropolitan Strategy for Sydney as ‘grossly deficient’.
The executive officer, Ms Mary Perkins, was responding to the document, Planning for a better future: Metropolitan Strategy discussion paper, released by the Minister for Infrastructure and Planning, Craig Knowles MP, today.
‘Everyone knows that Sydney has a problem with housing affordability, associated with it being the power house of the country and the country’s only global city.
‘Research by the Affordable Housing National Research Consortium in 2001 found that no household in the bottom 40% of incomes could afford to purchase an average 1-bedroom dwelling in any part of Sydney without being in housing stress, i.e. unless they paid more than 30% of their income on mortgage repayments.
‘That research reinforced the findings of a Ministerial Task Force on Affordable Housing in 1998 that was established by Minister Knowles himself’, Ms Perkins said.
Shelter NSW is disappointed with the discussion paper because it does not respond to the challenges for housing affordability asked by the Ministerial Directions Paper released by Minister Knowles in May this year.
The Minister and the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources are in a position to use planning powers under NSW law to promote and finance affordable housing, and meet the affordability challenges, according to Shelter.
Ms Perkins called on the Minister to introduce a State Environmental Planning Policy on Affordable Housing to help make Sydney a sustainable and livable city.
‘The government has put housing affordability in the too-hard basket for too long’, she said. ‘People living on low and moderate incomes must be allowed to call Sydney home.’
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CONTACT: Mary Perkins (02) 9267 5733 – w, 0419 919 091 – m