MEDIA RELEASE: Developer incentives fail to address root cause of housing crisis

Commenting on the Minns Labor Government’s major planning and housing announcement today, the Greens are calling for a minimum 30% affordable housing in all new private developments to address the serious housing affordability crisis. 

The Government needs to stop outsourcing responsibility for the housing crisis to the private sector and start taking genuine responsibility to ensure that housing is for people, not private profit. 

Comment by Greens MP Sue Higginson, spokesperson for Planning and the Environment:

“Taking more power away from councils and local communities to incentivise private developers is the exact opposite of best practice planning pathways. To tackle the housing crisis, the NSW Government should be examining locally driven solutions that are interactive with existing communities and incorporate the local knowledge and planning controls of local councils.

“Abusing the State Significant Development pathway to skip planning controls for private housing developments is not an appropriate way to address the housing crisis. Failed planning regulation that has been consistently weakened over the last two decades has created the illusion that only further private profiteering can solve the issue but that simply isn’t true.

“What the Labor Government is proposing will effectively entrench corporate profits and manipulation of planning regulations as a function of housing developments. Chris Minns needs to break free from the failed corporate model for affordable housing and look to the world for best practice examples of ensuring that workers and residents can access and afford a stable and sustainable home.”

Comment by Greens MP Jenny Leong, Spokesperson for Housing and Homelessness:

“We absolutely welcome the Minns Labor Government’s commitment to boosting affordable housing supply - but we need to be mandating public and affordable housing in all new developments, not incentivising private developer profits.

“A target of 15% affordable housing doesn’t even touch the sides of the housing affordability crisis we are facing. 

“The scale and severity of the problem calls for greater ambition: at a minimum, we need to see 30% affordable housing in perpetuity for all new private developments as a prerequisite for development consent.

“The cost of rent and housing is out of control - supply alone will not fix the crisis unless we mandate affordability. This means setting rents for affordable housing relative to income and guaranteeing affordable housing in perpetuity.“