Making the Inner West an affordable place to live
The Greens love the character of our area. We want to find creative solutions to help deliver increased density and diversity, preserve our historic housing stock, retain embodied energy and make it financially possible for regular homeowners to do so.
Sydney is growing, and so is inequality. Rents and property prices in the Inner West are increasingly out of reach for young people and essential workers.
Labor’s planning changes will do nothing to make housing more affordable. In fact, we know that is already driving up housing prices, further locking out the next generation. It is a gift to private developers and takes power away from our local councils. And they have no plan for building affordable housing or tackling the public housing waiting list.
The Greens believe the way to tackle the housing crisis is to increase affordable and public housing, and we have a plan to get there. Rather than hand over profits to developers and speculators, we want to see the Council build public and affordable housing that is also sustainable and accessible. We will work with the local community to implement our plans in a way that protects the things we love about the Inner West while making living here more affordable.
Our housing policy consists of Four Elements:
- Making Developers Pay
- Council build and own & run housing
- Housing for all
- Renters Rights
Making Developers & Investors Pay
Affordable Housing Contribution & Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning
Currently the Inner West does not make developers pay towards Affordable Housing, except in cases where Council lets developers breach height regulation. In the City of Sydney, developers have to pay 3%. Willoughby has a 10% contribution from developers in the Chatswood CBD. In London it’s a minimum of 35% and for some developments it’s 50%.
Everytime a local council rezones an area, it is privatising airspace. Instead of giving away that airspace for free, those profits should remain in the community and be put towards building affordable housing.
The Greens are advocating for 30% of the cost of a multi-dwelling development and 10% for commercial developments to go towards Affordable Housing – either in the form of including affordable homes in the development, or cash which Council will use towards building Council-own Public and Affordable Housing.
Vacancy Levy
The Greens will introduce a levy on residential and commercial properties that are vacant for more than 12 months. We need to remove the incentives for developers and investors to shut out people who want to live in a home.
That’s why we want to introduce a vacancy levy on investment properties – including homes, apartments, commercial buildings and blocks of land – that are left empty for more than 12 months without a good reason.
If investors leave sites vacant, we want to charge them tens of thousands of dollars per year to encourage them to either rent their sites out, redevelop them as housing, or sell them to someone who will actually use them. We would set a vacancy levy at 2000% of the standard council rates for a property.
Increase rates on landlords that increase rents
We’re facing a rental crisis and rents are out of control. The Greens will make it extremely costly for property investors to raise rents by charging much higher rates if they do. We will create a new rates category, ‘Uncapped rental home.’ Properties where the rent is raised more than 10% above the rent that was charged on 1 January 2024 would be reclassified into this new rating category. The rates for properties in the ‘Uncapped rental home’ category would increase by 650%. In practice almost no investors would raise the rent, since doing so would mean they lose money.
Council Build and Own Housing
Set a target
Rents and prices are out of control. The Inner West is a place for everyone, not just developers, investors and landlords.
Twenty years ago, London set a target that 50% of new housing will be genuinely affordable. In 2023, almost half of new housing delivered in London was public or affordable, compared with the tiny fraction here in Inner West
The Greens will set a target for 50% of all new housing in the Inner West to be affordable, sustainable and accessible by 2032.
Examples overseas, like London and Paris, show that housing can be made more affordable if targets are set and governments work together. Business as usual where the developers dictate terms will mean housing stays unaffordable and developers just get richer.
Acquire properties
Private property developers and big banks have created a massive housing crisis. Renters and first home buyers are struggling with record-high house prices and rents.
We need more homes but private developers are holding back supply. There are finished homes that are not being put to market and we can all see examples of run down sites that are underutilised. Private developers make more money when prices and rents are high.
The Greens on council will establish a fund to buy run-down, vacant and under-utilised sites along Parramatta Rd and other High streets to be turned into Affordable Housing
WestConnex Sites
The Greens oppose the privatisation of public land and oppose the State Government’s plan to give away the WestConnex Dive sites to developers. There are sites in Camperdown, Ashfield & Haberfield that should remain in public hands and be turned into Public and Affordable Housing, as well as green space.
Parramatta Rd Light Rail ready
The Greens have been campaigning for light rail down Parramatta Rd since 2010. On Council, we will fast track this vital piece of infrastructure to revitalise Parramatta Rd.
But we can’t let developers rip us off. The State Government wants to ‘pay’ for the light rail by letting loose developers overdevelop our suburbs.
The Light Rail is a great opportunity to revitalise Parramatta Rd – if we do it properly. The Greens will prioritise staged shop-top developments (with minimum 50% public and affordable housing), focusing on vacant and run down sites first. And we will work with the community, residents and businesses to make sure developments are appropriate.
Housing for all
Essential Workers
Teachers, nurses, early childhood educators and other essentials workers who work in the Inner West shouldn’t be travelling several hours a day because they can’t afford to live here.
The Greens will reserve 25% of new council-own housing for essential workers to make the Inner West is a community for everyone.
Housing Co-ops
The Greens will establish a fund to help people set up affordable housing co-ops. The housing crisis means we need lots of solutions. Last year, the City of Sydney approved the first new housing co-op in Sydney for 30 years. Many European cities, like Vienna, have 60% of residents living in housing co-ops. We need more solutions like this to make the Inner West more affordable.
Sustainable and Accessible Homes
The Greens will amend the planning rules to ensure all new buildings meet sustainability and accessibility standards.
Sustainable
We will require new homes and apartments to be built to a higher standard. Homes would have an 8 star energy rating, insulation, high ceilings, large windows that can open, spacious rooms and cross-ventilation.
Accessible homes
Everyone deserves a home they can stay in for life, so 100% of new public homes would be built to a LHA Silver Level or above under the Liveable Housing Australia Guidelines for universal accessibility. This includes level, step-free access, wider doorways and corridors, and future-proofing to avoid costly retrofits as residents age or accessibility requirements change. A set proportion of homes (15%) would be built to Platinum Levels to help clear the waiting list for social housing for people with disabilities.
Homelessness and people at risk of homelessness
Last year, the Inner West Council area had the highest increase in the rate of people seeking help for homelessness in NSW. Everybody deserves the support they need in a crisis.
The Greens will establish a homelessness unit and comprehensive homelessness strategy. The unit will research analysis and support of people at risk of homelessness. patterns of homelessness and rough sleeping in the Inner West to facilitate action and strategic service delivery. The homelessness unit will conduct a minimum of two street counts per year, and work with the State Government and local NGOs such as the Newtown Neighbourhood Centre to take action on homelessness.
Rights for Renters
Bad Landlords register
We will establish a ‘name and shame’ register of landlords and real estate agents who excessively increase rents, don’t do repairs, hold blacklists of tenants or just treat tenants badly.
Increase rates for refusing to maintain properties
The Greens will increase rates on investors, developers and landlords who deliberately let properties fall into disrepair. This will discourage developers and investors from ‘landbanking’ – where they wait until the property is more valuable before selling or developing. And it will discourage landlords trying to force out tenants.
Community solar available to renters
The Greens will develop a scheme to allow renters to access community solar. Right now, there is no incentive for landlords to switch to solar or other renewables. As part of commitment to net-zero emissions, we need to break this cycle. This will allow residential and commercial renters to lower their energy bills at the same time as accessing renewable energy.
DISCLAIMER: While the solutions to the housing crisis are simple, they do require all three levels of government to work together. Certain parts of our policy require state and federal cooperation.