August 13 2016 Damien Murphy
Sydney is beginning to "sleep walk to social immobility" and unless people, government and the private sector urgently embrace radical change to housing policies affordable housing will disappear.
This is the scenario painted by the Committee for Sydney's chief executive Tim Williams as figures suggest it takes 13 times the average annual salary to purchase a home.
Committee For Sydney CEO Tim Williams says despite housing affordability reaching crisis, governments and developers were ignorant about the damage being done to communities.
He said affordability had reached crisis yet governments and developers seemed blithely ignorant about the damage being done to communities where diversity had been priced out.
"Australian cities are beginning to sleep walk to social immobility," Dr Williams said.
"We need to refresh the Australian fair go commitment to a Sydney for all. We need to embrace the diversity that we used to embrace; we're living in a quite tribal city. We need to bridge that divide and we need new policies: The way the government disposes of its own land must change.
"The committee thinks there is a very big discussion to be had on this matter because in a sense we're not enabling out own children to grow up in the areas we grew up in."
Dr Williams said the continuing controversy over the Baird government's decision to evict public housing tenants from the Sirius building in the Rocks, was an example of the need to recalibrate policy on affordable housing.
"The government is not yet committed to affordable housing even on its own land so we are challenging government that when it sells public land, it doesn't just sell it at top dollar, but actually sells it with a commitment to a proportion of affordable housing of sub-market rental housing on its own land," he said.
"We would look to the government to have a requirement for a minimum number of affordable units (in whatever replaces the Sirius building) set aside."
Dr Williams said the government should legislate to require the private sector to set aside 10 or 15 per cent - of a development for affordable housing.
"The private sector will buy land subject to the knowledge that they are going to have to do some affordable housing on it," he said.
"They have to know what is coming and it musn't change from council to council, from year to year, so they can factor this into their land purchase."
The Committee for Sydney sponsored a visit by Sir Robin Wales, the mayor of Newham in East London, who has been extraordinarily successful in linking jobs with housing affordability and taking his municipality from being the second most deprived local government authority six years ago to the 25th.
Under the Labor knight's leadership, Newham established a wholly owned company that builds and acquires properties to rent and used the profits to provide affordable housing; it also licensed private rented properties to give tenants more protection - a move that has resulted in nearly 800 landlords being prosecuted with some exposed as tax evaders - and provided free meals to primary school children and a musical instrument for every student.
"Every middle-class kid has a musical instrument, so its right and proper that we should provide working-class kids with the same privilege," Sir Robin said.
"All our innovations, be it with rents, jobs, or education, have all been aimed at keeping the community in the community. Much of greater London has been hollowed out as properties and jobs grew apart, but we've managed to arrest that in Newham and it might be a light for Sydney to follow. For it, like every other big city, is seeing diversity squashed as the poor and jobless are driven further and further away."
SOURCED: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/government-developers-should-stop-chasing-big-dollars-and-provide-affordable-housing-20160812-gqr0mg.html
Sydney is beginning to "sleep walk to social immobility" and unless people, government and the private sector urgently embrace radical change to housing policies affordable housing will disappear.
This is the scenario painted by the Committee for Sydney's chief executive Tim Williams as figures suggest it takes 13 times the average annual salary to purchase a home.
Committee For Sydney CEO Tim Williams says despite housing affordability reaching crisis, governments and developers were ignorant about the damage being done to communities.
He said affordability had reached crisis yet governments and developers seemed blithely ignorant about the damage being done to communities where diversity had been priced out.
"Australian cities are beginning to sleep walk to social immobility," Dr Williams said.
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| The Sirius public housing building will not be heritage listed Photo: Wolter Peeters |
"The committee thinks there is a very big discussion to be had on this matter because in a sense we're not enabling out own children to grow up in the areas we grew up in."
"The government is not yet committed to affordable housing even on its own land so we are challenging government that when it sells public land, it doesn't just sell it at top dollar, but actually sells it with a commitment to a proportion of affordable housing of sub-market rental housing on its own land," he said.
"We would look to the government to have a requirement for a minimum number of affordable units (in whatever replaces the Sirius building) set aside."
Dr Williams said the government should legislate to require the private sector to set aside 10 or 15 per cent - of a development for affordable housing.
"The private sector will buy land subject to the knowledge that they are going to have to do some affordable housing on it," he said.
"They have to know what is coming and it musn't change from council to council, from year to year, so they can factor this into their land purchase."
Over the years much research recommended the imposition of a component of affordable housing on land or properties bought by developers but governments bolted under the sort of barrage that greeted negative gearing in the last federal election campaign.All our innovations, be it with rents, jobs, or education, have all been aimed at keeping the community in the community.Sir Robin Wales, mayor of Newham, East London
The Committee for Sydney sponsored a visit by Sir Robin Wales, the mayor of Newham in East London, who has been extraordinarily successful in linking jobs with housing affordability and taking his municipality from being the second most deprived local government authority six years ago to the 25th.
Under the Labor knight's leadership, Newham established a wholly owned company that builds and acquires properties to rent and used the profits to provide affordable housing; it also licensed private rented properties to give tenants more protection - a move that has resulted in nearly 800 landlords being prosecuted with some exposed as tax evaders - and provided free meals to primary school children and a musical instrument for every student.
"Every middle-class kid has a musical instrument, so its right and proper that we should provide working-class kids with the same privilege," Sir Robin said.
"All our innovations, be it with rents, jobs, or education, have all been aimed at keeping the community in the community. Much of greater London has been hollowed out as properties and jobs grew apart, but we've managed to arrest that in Newham and it might be a light for Sydney to follow. For it, like every other big city, is seeing diversity squashed as the poor and jobless are driven further and further away."
SOURCED: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/government-developers-should-stop-chasing-big-dollars-and-provide-affordable-housing-20160812-gqr0mg.html
