Moved by Councillor Weldon, seconded by
Councillor Thompson -
It is resolved
that Council note:
(A) access to affordable rental housing is essential
for a diverse, cohesive, vibrant and economically successful city;
(B)
while
the primary responsibility for housing policy and provision lies with the state
government, councils play a crucial role in addressing housing issues locally;
(C)
the
City of Sydney has a social, practical and legislative responsibility to
address local housing needs on behalf of the community;
(D)
the
local community has repeatedly voiced desire for an affordable, inclusive, and
accessible city;
(E)
accordingly,
the City’s previous strategic plan Sustainable Sydney 2030 established the
target that, by 2030, 7.5% will be affordable housing, delivered by
not-for-profit or other providers;
(F)
the
City uses its planning levers, sells land to community housing providers below
cost, and provides grants to increase the amount of affordable housing in the
local area. Notably:
(i)
the
City of Sydney is the first council in Australia to have a Local Government
Area (LGA)-wide affordable housing contributions scheme and is the only council
to charge a levy across all residential and commercial development;
(ii)
to date
the City has collected more than $400 million in levies, provided $31.6 million
in discount land and committed almost $13 million in grants to the delivery of
affordable housing; and
(iii)
with
these contributions, 1,464 affordable dwellings have built in the local area,
565 dwellings are in the development pipeline and 1,294 are expected to be
built in the near future;
(G)
the
City also advocates for greater action and investment from other levels of
government;
(H) the City’s ambitious affordable housing
targets always envisaged Local, State and Federal governments all doing their
bit, as well as the development industry. However, without State Government
mandated targets for affordable housing in new developments, meeting our
targets will continue to be a significant challenge;
(I)
while
the proportion of affordable housing in the City of Sydney has decreased over
this time and currently makes up less than 2% of total housing stock, the City
of Sydney has delivered more affordable housing than any other council in
Australia, and we are on track to deliver even more;
(J)
the
City’s new strategic plan Sustainable Sydney 2030-2050 maintains the target for
7.5% affordable housing but pushes back the target from 2030 to 2036, to align
with the overall dwelling approval target mandated for councils by the former
NSW Government in 2018;
(K)
still,
the City is not currently on track to meet this revised target, noting that:
(i)
the
City’s developer contributions levy scheme is projected to deliver a further
1,950 affordable dwellings;
(ii)
if
considered all together the built, pipeline, expected and projected affordable
housing dwellings will equal to 5,273 affordable rental dwellings and
affordable diverse dwellings to 2036; and
(iii)
this
would equate to 44% of the 12,000 affordable dwellings target for 2036, or
about 3.4% of the private dwellings target for 2036;
(L)
in
order to meet our affordable housing target, at the June 2023 and February 2024
Council meetings, Council resolved to ask the Chief Executive Officer to:
(i)
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; and
(ii)
provide
advice about potential changes to the City’s Local Environmental Plan 2012, and
related documents as needed, to give the City of Sydney the ability to require
that affordable housing contributions be delivered in the form of land or
buildings on site, in appropriate developments; and
(M) the Lord Mayor has asked the Chief Executive
Officer to provide the new Council with a comprehensive overview of the City’s
current housing policies and planning framework, what it has delivered, work
currently underway and next steps to continue to deliver more affordable
housing.
Carried unanimously.
X113759