2,200 "new" dwellings from the Social and Affordable Housing Fund

Last week the NSW Government announced the first new projects to be delivered by the Social and Affordable Housing Fund (SAHF). This follows a lengthy process after a short-list was announced just under a year ago.

Details of 2,200 new social and affordable housing dwellings have been announced as follows:

• BaptistCare NSW & ACT – 375 homes for older people in housing stress and at risk of homelessness and 125 homes for single parent families with a focus on women impacted by domestic violence (@ 70% social housing, 30% affordable housing)
• Compass Housing Services Co Ltd – 600 homes for tenants that are close to support services and infrastructure (@ 81% social housing, 19% affordable housing)
• SGCH Sustainability Limited – 300 homes for tenants with tailored support coordination services and quality dwellings close to services and infrastructure (@ 70% social housing, 30% affordable housing)
• St Vincent de Paul Housing – 500 homes to general and older aged tenants (@ 71% social housing, 29% affordable housing)
• Uniting – 300 homes for people aged over 55 without children at home (@ 70% social housing, 30% affordable housing)

The projects include a number of regional sites but the announcement provides no clear insight into exactly who will be building what, and in which region. However an infographic provided with the Premier's press release (see below) gives some indication of where the projects will be located:

• 696 dwellings in Hunter New England
• 369 dwellings in Nepean Blue Mountains
• 327 dwellings in South Western Sydney
• 288 dwellings in Northern Sydney, Sydney and South Eastern Sydney
• 84 dwellings in Western NSW, Murrumbidgee and the Far West
• 80 dwellings in Northern NSW and the Mid North Coast
• 63 dwellings in Southern NSW and Illawarra Shoalhaven
• (Note - that doesn't quite add up to 2,200, there are 294 dwellings missing. But the infographic says St Vincent de Paul and St George Community Housing are finishing 294 sites across NSW. Does this mean the SAHF is also funding projects that were already under construction?)

Gobble-de-gook

Washington Park is seen as a good example of an integrated private/public housing precinct developed on government owned land.

From ‘We are Washington Park’ website

Stephen Cox writes: 'Architects are meeting the challenge to create social housing that looks and feels like modern private housing, with the key being to mix those subsidised dwellings with private housing.' Read more here.

Government spin, real-estate-talk or just good, old gooble-de-gook?

The last word comes from a Riverwood public housing tenant speaking at the Tenants Union's 40-year anniversary celebrations on 15 August 2016. Her point ... if they want to do away with the stigma of public housing estates, then why hive off the redeveloped part of the estate and give it a different name. Here the public housing estate is Riverwood? The developer proclaims: 'Not simply a new development but an entirely new suburb, Washington Park is situated ...' Read more here and view their spiel here.

Proposed 'State Significant Precinct' at Riverwood

Minister for Social Housing, Brad Hazzard, recently announced a $3.4billion renewal of Riverwood in Sydney's south east, that will draw on the apparent success of the Washington Park project of Riverwood North. The announcement is reflected in this article from 'The St George and Sutherland Shire Leader' - 1600 new social and affordable homes to be mixed with private housing at Riverwood.

Image from http://washingtonpark.com.au/

The announcement says "The remaining 30.5 hectares of the Riverwood estate is being submitted as a State Significant Precinct (SSP), which will involve planning to identify all types of housing, community amenity, services and infrastructure needed for the local population."

State Significant Precinct's are a creature of planning law - specifically the State Environmental Planning Policy (State Specific Precincts) 2005. Determining an area to be a State Significant Precinct allows the NSW Government to override local government planning processes by either adjusting applicable Local Environmental Plans (as has happened with areas around Macquarie Park), or adjusting the SEPP to include zoning and planning controls within the document itself (as has happened with the Redfern-Waterloo area). More information about State Significant Precincts can be found in this document: here.

It is not clear which of the options will apply to the Riverwood site. However, in either case there is a process that needs to be followed and we understand this to be as good as underway. Responding to our enquiries, Minister Hazzard's office has confirmed that the Planning Minister has instructed the Department of Planning and Environment to provide the NSW Land and Housing Corporation - the Government entity that owns our public housing, and current owner of the Riverwood site - with an outline of what would be required to have the site considered a State Significant Precinct. The Land and Housing Corporation will then produce a submission, against which the matter will be considered. This will take some time, as it will involve a process of "consultation, design and planning".

It appears there will be opportunities for residents, the community and other stakeholders to have their say in the coming months. We can expect public exhibition of the resulting plans in the second quarter next year.

In the meantime, Minister Hazzard's announcement gives us a little more to go on. It says that “conservative estimates tell us we can get at least 1600 new social and affordable homes but there is a lot of planning and community consultation to do before we settle on final figures.” It also promises that "current residents in social housing will be able to continue to live in Riverwood, in the new housing. It will be two years before any resident will have to temporarily relocate to allow new building works to begin."

We can also expect involvement from the Community Housing sector in the renewal of Riverwood, and the management of any new social housing properties. SGCH, a Community Housing landlord that has worked with Government and the private sector on the Washington Park project, has noted Minister Hazzard's announcement in a recent newsletter (and a slightly reworded press release). CEO Scott Langford, said: “We very much look forward to having an input into the plans for the redevelopment and to seeing the next stage deliver housing that caters for the diverse needs of all people in our society.”