The original motion was moved by Councillor
Ellsmore, seconded by Councillor Scott.
It is resolved that:
(A)
Council
note:
(i)
Sydney is
in an affordable housing crisis. Sydney is now the second most expensive city
for housing in the world;
(ii)
affordable rental housing in the City of Sydney is
only 1.2 per cent of total housing stock. Social (including public) housing has
been reducing - down from 9.5 per cent in 2011 to 7.9 per cent at June 2023 -
and is projected to reduce further;
(iii)
however, the number of Affordable Housing dwellings
in the City of Sydney is growing and the number built has tripled since 2007 to
1,464 homes built; and
(iv)
housing in the inner-city is unaffordable for
people on lower incomes, and increasingly for those on middle incomes;
(B)
Council
further note:
(i)
one of
the key mechanisms councils use in Australia and around the world to grow
public, community and affordable housing are levies on development;
(ii)
the City of Sydney has an affordable housing levy
across the whole council area. Levies collected from development are currently
transferred to Community Housing Providers; and
(iii)
the City of Sydney’s affordable housing levy is 1
per cent of floor space for non-residential development, and 3 per cent of
floor space for residential development. Where rezoning results in a
residential floor space uplift, an additional affordable housing contribution
up to 18 per cent of the uplift component can apply;
(C)
Council
further note:
(i)
international
cities, like London and Paris, have ambitious affordable housing targets and
higher contribution rates. However, they are significantly supported by
National Government and other agency funding, subsidies and tax incentives and
contributions are generally only calculated on residential floor space, not all
floor space as the City does;
(ii)
other councils in NSW, like Randwick, Canada Bay
and Byron Bay Council have set ambitious affordable housing targets and levies.
However, contributions are generally only mandated on residential floor space,
not on all floor space as the City does, and contributions are mainly collected
on residential uplift and in limited areas;
(iii)
to compare the City’s Affordable Housing
contribution rates and targets to other jurisdictions internationally and other
councils in NSW is misleading;
(iv)
the City of Sydney has established targets of 15
per cent affordable housing and social (including public) housing, by 2036, to
be maintained in the future;
(v)
the NSW Government has no Affordable Housing
target, only one for market housing;
(vi)
City’s ambitious targets always envisaged a whole
of government approach to delivering more social and affordable housing.
However, without government mandated targets, meeting our targets will continue
to be a significant challenge. This is a stark difference to other
international examples, where Affordable and Social Housing has been heavily
subsidised and supported by National Governments and agencies such as Homes
England or the National Housing Agency in France;
(vii) we welcome
recent funding commitments including $5.1 billion towards social housing from
the NSW Government and around $10 billion towards the Housing Australia Future
Fund from the Federal Government, however more must be done to close the
increasing funding gap to build and operate housing;
(viii) although
primarily the responsibility of the NSW Government, the City of Sydney uses
every lever available to maximise the amount of Affordable Housing in our local
area including through planning mechanisms, selling discounted land to
community housing providers, and grants;
(ix) the City of Sydney is the first Council to have an LGA-wide Affordable Housing contributions scheme, unlike most other councils in Australia and we are the only council to charge a levy across all residential and commercial development, unlike other jurisdictions;
(x)
the City has contributed to 3,323 Affordable
Housing dwellings in our area either built or anticipated in the future. The
City’s Affordable Housing levy scheme, which covers all of the Local Government
Area, is projected to deliver a further 1,950 affordable dwellings;
(xi)
as at 30 June 2023, the City has collected almost
$400 million in levies, sold discounted land to the value of $31.6 million, and
provided about $13 million in grants; and
(xii) the City of
Sydney has contributed to more Affordable Housing than any other council in
Australia;
(D)
Council
further note:
(i)
at its June
2023 Council meeting, the elected Council considered a motion by Councillor
Ellsmore to increase affordable housing contributions. The Council resolved to
ask the Chief Executive Officer to review the City’s Affordable Housing
contribution rates, including what changes could deliver more affordable
housing in our area such as rate increases, changes to City policies, planning
controls and rezoning proposals. This work is well underway;
(ii)
since the June 2023 Council meeting, Council has
approved rezoning decisions worth many billions of dollars, collecting
affordable housing contributions at the current rate. An estimated $40 million
per annum in affordable housing contributions has been collected on Development
Applications;
(iii)
to levy a higher amount, the City of Sydney must
amend its planning instruments through a planning proposal, which must be
exhibited. The changes must be approved by the Minister for Planning; and
(iv)
it would be inappropriate to amend the City’s
affordable housing contribution rates before robust analysis is completed with
full consideration of the potential impacts an increase could have on
development viability, housing costs, support of the NSW Government to approve
changes and ultimately, affordable housing delivery now and into the future; and
(E)
the
Chief Executive Officer be requested to report back on the findings of the
City’s review of our Affordable Housing contributions.
The amended
motion was carried on the following show of hands –
Ayes (7) The
Chair (the Lord Mayor), Councillors Chan, Davis, Gannon, Kok, Scott and Worling
Noes (3) Councillors
Ellsmore, Jarrett and Weldon.
Amended motion carried.
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