To Council:
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 such as developer
contributions and planning agreements, selling discounted land to community
housing providers, and grants.
As a result, at June 2023 the City has contributed to 1,464 built
Affordable Housing units in our area, 565 dwellings in the development pipeline
and a further 1,294 that we expect to be built 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.
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. Through these grants, the City has funded affordable
housing projects such as:
·
Hammondcare in Darlinghurst that provides 42 rooms
including for older women at risk of homelessness.
·
Wesley Mission refuges that provides 44 rooms in
Surry Hills and will provide 74 rooms in Glebe.
·
Foyer Central in Chippendale that provides 73 rooms
for young people at risk.
The City’s Affordable and Diverse Housing Fund supports the delivery of
all forms of short and long term rental accommodation offered at below market
rates, including affordable housing, social housing, crisis housing and
boarding houses. Our Affordable Housing contributions program also enables
Community Housing Providers to use levies for boarding houses.
Advocacy
on boarding houses
For many years, I have advocated to ensure boarding houses are protected
from neglect and redevelopment.
As the Member for Bligh, I was concerned about boarding houses
increasingly being converted to backpacker accommodation especially during the
Bicentenary, and in the lead up to the Sydney Olympics in 2000. I introduced
legislative measures that reduced the council rates of boarding house owners’,
and extended boarding house land tax exemptions to low-income rental properties
which encouraged owners to build and operate boarding houses instead of
converting or developing them.
I note that the City does charge nominal fees to boarding house
operators to help cover the costs of compliance and fire safety inspections and
schedules, which is important to keep residents safe. The fees were introduced
by the Local Government Act 1993. Waiving those fees would help reduce costs
for boarding house owners to keep and maintain their properties.
There are around 4,000 boarding house rooms across the City - but this
number is shrinking as the buildings are converted to more profitable
housing.
In the City of Sydney, three development applications (DAs) for boarding
house conversions have recently been refused, however they are still at risk of
being redeveloped after appeal to the NSW Land and Environment Court.
Councils cannot refuse to accept lodgement of such DAs and are obligated
to assess them under the outdated NSW Affordable Rental Housing SEPP Guidelines
for Retention of Existing Affordable Rental Housing 2009 (‘The Guidelines’)
referenced by the Housing SEPP.
The Guidelines give priority to the financial viability of maintaining a
boarding house above other planning considerations and require in some
instances a levy be paid to compensate for the loss of low-cost rental
accommodation.
Councils’ hands are tied. The Guidelines are in desperate need of
review.
In 2021, the City’s advocacy led to changes by the former NSW Government
to ensure planning incentives such as extra height and floor space are only
made available to genuinely ‘affordable’ boarding houses which must be managed
by a Community Housing Provider in perpetuity, and rented to eligible
households at affordable rents. We can now be confident that all new boarding
houses are genuinely ‘affordable’.
In October 2023, Council unanimously supported my Lord Mayoral Minute
calling on the NSW Government to implement the recommendations of the 2020
statutory review of the Boarding Houses Act 2012 and urgently review the
outdated Guidelines.
I wrote to relevant NSW Government Ministers with this request who
confirmed they would progress the recommendations of the review, however, no
timeframe was provided. A response from the then Acting Minister for Housing
noted that the Department of Communities and Justice (now Homes NSW) is holding
$150,722 in compensation levies collected in the City of Sydney for the loss of
low-cost rental accommodation.
In July 2024, I wrote to the NSW Minister for Customer Service who is
responsible for administering the Boarding Houses Act 2012, calling on him to
implement the recommendations in the statutory review as a matter of priority,
and to consult with local councils before making any changes.
Dwelling
retention controls
The City is currently consulting with the community on changes to
planning controls that will ensure that when a residential building is
redeveloped, the total number of ‘dwellings’ within that building does not drop
significantly. If adopted, these changes will support housing diversity, the
retention of housing and rental affordability in our local government area.
Unfortunately, DAs for a change of use or the loss of an entire boarding
house are subject to the requirements of the Housing SEPP and the Guidelines,
which our planning controls cannot lawfully override including our dwelling
retention controls, if adopted. The City has investigated options to prevent
the loss of boarding houses in our area and concluded that we cannot change our
planning controls to override state planning controls or constraints. Again,
our hands are tied.
Strengthening
renters’ rights
Over the last two years, median rents for market housing in our area have
gone up by 26.5 per cent - an increase of $193 per week - bringing the median
rent for a unit in the City of Sydney from $728 per week to $921 per week.
The biggest rent hikes are typically when a new tenant starts a lease.
This incentivises landlords to ‘churn’ tenants and terminate leases at the end
of a fixed term. Research from the Tenants’ Union of NSW found nearly 60 per
cent of renters in NSW are on fixed term leases, and the majority of
‘no-grounds’ evictions (71 per cent) are served to households at the end of a
fixed term lease.
It has been almost 12 months since the NSW Government’s proposed changes
to the Residential Tenancies Act 2010 (‘the Act’) to end ‘no grounds’ evictions
on all leases; extend the notice period to end a fixed term lease from 30 days
to 90 days; and limit how often rent could be increased, as well as making it
easier for renters to have pets.
The City’s submission in August 2023 supported the proposed changes and
was later supplemented by a Council resolution following my Lord Mayoral Minute
which called on the NSW Government to limit rent increases to a maximum of 110
per cent of the CPI for rent.
In May 2024, spurred by NSW Government inaction, the Residential
Tenancies Amendment (Prohibiting No Grounds Evictions) Bill 2024 was introduced
to end ‘no grounds’ evictions. Disappointingly, neither the NSW Government nor
the Opposition supported the bill, but it will be reviewed by a Select
Committee, who are due to report back to Parliament by 20 September 2024. I
hope both houses can support these urgently needed amendments.
COUNCILLOR CLOVER MOORE AO
Lord Mayor
Moved by the Lord Mayor, seconded by
Councillor Kok:
(A) Council note:
(i)
it has
been four years since the recommendations of the statutory review of the
Boarding Houses Act 2012 and the NSW Government has still not implemented them;
(ii)
the
City of Sydney uses every lever available to maximise the amount of Affordable
Housing, including boarding houses, in our local area through planning
mechanisms, selling discounted land to community housing providers, and our
Affordable and Diverse Housing Fund;
(iii)
even
though it has been 12 months since the NSW Government proposed changes to the
Residential Tenancies Act 2010, there has been no legislative reform to end ‘no
grounds’ evictions nor limit rent increases; and
(iv)
the NSW
Premier’s announcement on 28 July 2024 about ending ‘no grounds evictions’ and
extending the notice period to end a lease is welcome, but renters cannot wait
until 2025 and the legislative changes must also urgently limit rent increases,
make it easier for renters to have pets and introduce energy efficiency
standards;
(B)
the
Chief Executive Officer be requested to:
(i)
waive
inspection and compliance fees for registered boarding houses where the
operators can demonstrate hardship, subject to legislative requirements;
(ii)
consider
potential fee waivers for compliance and fire safety inspections for all
registered boarding houses in the City of Sydney to assist with owners’ costs
of maintaining and retaining their properties while ensuring the ongoing safety
of residents;
(iii)
investigate
increasing the levy on development that will result in the loss of existing
low-cost rental accommodation through demolition, alterations, change of use or
subdivision and report back via the CEO Update;
(C)
the
Lord Mayor be requested to write to:
(i)
all
registered boarding house owners in the City of Sydney to advise them of the
fee waiver and ask them to work with the City to ensure their buildings are
safe and fit for purpose, if a fee waiver is adopted by Council;
(ii)
the NSW
Minister for Planning and Public Spaces to again request he expedite the update
of the NSW Affordable Rental Housing SEPP Guidelines for Retention of Existing
Affordable Rental Housing 2009 and that he consider the viability test; the
amount of levy paid for the loss of low-cost rental accommodation as well as
supporting residents into new housing;
(iii)
the NSW
Minister for Housing to return the $150,722 in levies collected in our local
area for the loss of low-cost rental accommodation to the City’s Affordable and
Diverse Housing Fund to be distributed towards affordable and diverse housing
projects in our area;
(iv)
the NSW
Premier and the Minister for Fair Trading welcoming the NSW Government’s
announcement on 28 July 2024 about ending ‘no grounds evictions’, but calling
on them to urgently implement legislative changes to also limit rent increases,
make it easier for renters to have pets and introduce energy efficiency
standards; and
(v)
Community
Housing Providers operating in our area about opportunities to use our
Affordable and Diverse Housing Fund and levies to deliver more boarding houses
and other low-cost and affordable rental housing; and
(D)
the
Lord Mayor be requested to host a roundtable with Community Housing Providers,
Metropolitan Councils, Homes NSW, the Tenants’ Union of NSW, Newtown
Neighbourhood Centre, the NSW Rental Commissioner and peak bodies about
protecting and increasing safe and secure affordable rental housing.
The Minute was carried on the following show
of hands –
Ayes
(8) The Chair (the Lord Mayor),
Councillors Chan, Davis, Ellsmore, Gannon, Kok, Scott and Worling
Noes (2) Councillors
Jarrett and Weldon*
*Note – Councillors Jarrett and Weldon
abstained from voting on this matter. Pursuant to the provisions of clause 10.4
of the Code of Meeting Practice, Councillors Jarrett and Weldon are taken to
have voted against the minute.
Minute carried.
S051491