The third Rental Affordability Index (RAI) released today shows that Sydney remains Australia's least affordable city for renters and makes it clear that significant change is needed to address this crisis.

NSW Greens spokesperson on Housing and Member for Newtown Jenny Leong MP said:

"It is clear that any attempt to deliver housing affordability can't start and end with supply alone. What we need is an increase to affordable supply. Unless there are mandated significant targets for affordable rental housing in new developments, rents will continue to soar."

The Baird Liberal Government has released its final UrbanGrowth plan for The Parramatta Rd corridor, including Taverners Hill. The density of the precinct will increase more than 400%, but there is no new infrastructure to support these new residents.

Published in the South Sydney Herald, November 2016

For more than 100 years, government funded public housing has been available to low income earners in NSW.

Government owned estates provided working class people, the elderly, new immigrants, young families, and working people in low-income, essential services the opportunity to live in our cities and regional centres, and participate in their local communities.

In recent decades we have seen a shift. Successive governments have under invested in maintaining safe, secure, affordable housing for low-income earners. Many public housing tenants suffer long standing issues around maintenance and safety.

Today we called on the NSW Government to abolish no grounds evictions and to support legislation to improve housing affordability. 

Today the Greens supported measures to improve the uptake of electric and Hydrogen powered vehicles, and supported changes to make lodging rental bonds easier and more transparent for renters. 

The Greens NSW have responded to the NSW Government's Foundations for Change – Homelessness in NSW discussion paper.

The submission from The Greens recognises that action is required at all levels of government to guarantee access to adequate, affordable and appropriate housing to all members for our community and to ensure that appropriate support services are available to address the systemic and personal issues that often result in homelessness.

NSW Greens spokesperson on Housing Jenny Leong MP welcomes long overdue attention to inclusionary zoning as a means to address the housing affordability crisis in Sydney. However she warns that scrutiny is needed to ensure that it is not used as an excuse to give developers free reign on density, with no consideration of community needs.

“Requiring a percentage of affordable dwellings to be part of any new significant development is an important part of the puzzle when it comes to addressing the housing affordability crisis” she says.

We need urgent funding to ensure the 60,000 people sitting on the waiting list for public housing in NSW can be placed in homes. 

In response to a question from NSW Greens spokesperson on Housing and Member for Newtown Jenny Leong MP, the NSW Treasurer has failed to rule out allowing global corporation Serco from profiting from public housing in NSW.

Serco are infamous for their operation of Australian detention centres, which have been the subject of many complaints of human rights breaches.

Today we asked the Treasurer Gladys Berejiklian if Serco, the company that operates Australia's inhumane refugee detention centers, will be prevented from profiting from public housing in NSW.