Yesterday, the NSW Government released it's 2024 State Budget. It's apparent the Chris Minns Labor Government is really staking its reputation on addressing the #housingcrisis.
Lots of announcements, but some of the more interesting #housingsupply related measures include:
💰$5.1b into building social #housing – 8,400 dwellings (6,200 new + 2,200 replacements) across 44 sites 💰$655m to create around 500 build-to-rent dwellings over 3 years 💰$253.7m to pay for planners and technology to speed up development approvals ($20.4m on improving the Planning Portal) 💰$246.7m for enabling infrastructure/conservation and land acquisition in Western Sydney and regions 💰$200m Faster Assessment program, creating a Council Incentives & Grants Program which will deliver enabling infrastructure 💰$85.0m in Restart NSW to fast-track infrastructure in three growing regional communities 💰$5.0m to continue the Government Land Audit to identify land which can deliver housing 💰$1.0m to "investigate" a guarantee scheme for residential developers to secure funding 🌆Over $350m to support investments into progressing Urban Renewal precincts, and $752m invested into Bradfield City
Some questions: ❓6,200 additional social housing dwellings represents just 1.6% of the 377,000 over 5 years Housing Target. I'm not yet seeing enough focus or investment on making the other 98% feasible.
❓How will 8,400 new dwellings be built at an average cost of $600,000 each, given construction costs in the state? (I assume this must be net cost, after revenue from the 21,000 market & affordable homes on this Government land. And the NSW CFMEU's new 22% pay deal won't help on this measure) ❓How many homes will ~$500m of enabling infrastructure investment really unlock (answer: nowhere near enough) ❓How quickly will new #planning assessment resources be emplaced, and where will they come from? There is already a massive shortfall in qualified planners in the state.
🤔Any and all progress is highly welcome, but this budget also shows just how much more needs to be done to address the growing housing challenge across NSW.