Draft Affordable Housing Policy

No longer on display. Expired on 03 March 2025, 05:00 PM

Council is seeking comment from the community on the draft Affordable Housing Policy.

Affordable housing helps ensure that communities remain diverse, allowing people from various income levels and backgrounds to maintain long-standing connections to the area, to live near their social networks, neighbourhood connections and jobs. It also supports the local economy by helping local businesses and essential services attract and keep employees by enabling them to live closer to their place of employment.

Background

What is affordable housing?

Affordable housing refers to a specific housing product. The Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 defines affordable housing as “housing that is targeted at households on very low, low or moderate incomes (from 0% - 120% of Greater Sydney’s median household income)”. It is rental housing that is subsidised and offered below market rents. The rent is charged at no more than 30% of the household income. This allows households to meet other basic living costs such as food, clothing, transport, medical care and education.

Examples of households who may benefit from affordable housing include:

Young adults who want to live near where they grew up.
People who are recently separated and who can no longer afford market rent.
Key workers (like aged care, nursing, childcare, health and welfare support, emergency services, transport, cleaners and hospitality workers) who need to live near their jobs.

Current situation

Ku-ring-gai’s current approach to affordable housing is ad hoc. Council does not currently have any affordable housing policy or formal position on the provision of affordable housing within Ku-ring-gai.

71.6% of Ku-ring-gai’s essential workers are living outside the Ku-ring-gai council area, and therefore more likely to be subject to long commutes and workplace burnout.
23% of Ku-ring-gai’s renters are in housing stress.
All existing approved and delivered affordable housing dwellings in Ku-ring-gai have been provided through an existing State planning policy and therefore are time-limited and will return to full market rent within the next ten years.