By Councillor Weldon
It is resolved that:
(i)
boarding houses provide much
needed affordable accommodation for people on lower incomes, particularly
singles, retirees, students and young couples;
(ii)
a
proposed ‘Change of use’ to a boarding house in New South Wales requires
Council development consent with consideration of the condition of the
property, social and economic impacts on the community, cumulative loss of
housing, financial viability of the boarding house and a possible monetary
contribution payment to mitigate reduction in affordable housing;
(iii) these planning provisions are set in the State Environmental Planning Policy (Housing) 2021 and the
associated Retention of Existing Affordable Rental Housing (Guidelines); and
(iv) over the last ten years, there have been 48
applications for ‘Change of use’ to boarding houses in the City of Sydney. All
48 applications have been approved; and
(B) the Chief Executive Officer be requested to:
(i)
review
the assessment of ‘Change of use’ applications to ensure that appropriate
consideration is given to the social and economic impacts on the community and
the cumulative loss of housing;
(ii)
investigate
mechanisms to incentivise community housing provider acquisition and management
of boarding houses; and
(iii) provide a report to Council with options
and/or recommendations to retain boarding houses in the City of Sydney.
Note – at the meeting of Council, the content
of the original Notice of Motion was varied by Councillor Weldon. Subsequently
it was –
Moved by Councillor Weldon, seconded by
Councillor Ellsmore –
It is resolved that:
(A) Council note:
(i)
boarding houses provide much
needed affordable accommodation for people on lower incomes, particularly
singles, retirees, students and young couples;
(ii)
a
proposed ‘Change of use’ to a boarding house in New South Wales requires
Council development consent with consideration of the condition of the
property, social and economic impacts on the community, cumulative loss of
housing, financial viability of the boarding house and a possible monetary
contribution payment to mitigate reduction in affordable housing;
(iii)
these planning provisions are set
in the State
Environmental Planning Policy (Housing) 2021 (Housing SEPP) and the associated
Retention of Existing Affordable Rental Housing (Guidelines);
(iv)
over
the last ten years, there have been 48 applications for ‘Change of use’ to
boarding houses in the City of Sydney. All 48 applications have been approved,
35 of which were Land and Housing Corporation (LAHC) applications on Crown Land
where the Housing SEPP and guidelines don’t apply;
(v)
although
housing is principally the responsibility of the State Government, the City is
committed to tackling housing affordability any way it can, through levies,
amended planning controls, discounted property sales, and an Affordable and
Diverse Housing Fund; and
(vi)
as at June 2022, the City has 1,427 built affordable housing
units in the local area, 631 dwellings in the development pipeline and a
further 701 that are expected to be built in the future; and
(B)
the
Chief Executive Officer be requested to update Councillors via a CEO update:
(i)
on how
the City considers the social and economic impacts on
the community and the cumulative loss of housing when assessing change of use
applications that result in a loss of affordable housing;
(ii)
on how
the City incentivises community housing providers to acquire or manage affordable housing (including
boarding houses); and
(iii)
on present
options and/or recommendations on what the City can do
to retain boarding houses in the City of Sydney.
Carried unanimously.
X086653