The rising cost of the private rental market means there is huge demand for more affordable housing in Australia’s capital cities, with the problem becoming more acute in the inner city.
To help address this issue, the City of Sydney has established an ambitious target of 7.5 per cent of all city housing to be affordable housing, delivered by not-for-profit or other providers.
What is affordable housing
Affordable housing is aimed at very low to moderate income households and priced so that tenants are able to meet other basic living costs such as food and clothing. As a rule of thumb, for housing to be affordable, it should account for less than 30% of gross household income.
The need for affordable housing
More groups are being affected by the rising cost of living in Sydney. As a result, this is impacting access to housing that is affordable in their community.
There are currently more than 44,000 (44,127) households on the NSW Housing Register, including 5,801 priority applications.
In the Inner City, the expected waiting time for a studio/1-bedroom property is 5 to 10 years. A 2-bedroom property is 10+ years. 626 people are on the waiting list and 267 of those are priority applications.
In NSW, less than 1% of all private rentals in Sydney are affordable for people on income support (across Australia about 6% of properties were affordable).
The role of Wesley Mission
Wesley Mission is committed to working with the City of Sydney to help meet this need by providing 39 self-contained dwellings with a total of 56 bedrooms including a mix of one, two, three and four-bedroom configurations that can accommodate singles, a couple or family group in Glebe.
These proposed well-appointed private dwellings will be complemented by a number of communal areas including a partially open courtyard and a rooftop garden.
Located in Sydney’s inner west, Glebe offers a great location to provide affordable housing to help address the existing gap with easy access to employment, education and public transport.
Wesley Mission has also carefully considered the targeted tenant mix to ensure an appropriate fit, both within the building and the wider community, recreating the village environment within the inner city.