NSW government unveils largest affordable housing program in state history

The NSW government has released its most ambitious social and affordable housing program in state history, committing $4.3 billion over four years to deliver 6,200 new dwellings — a combination of new-build social housing, affordable key-worker housing, and community housing provider partnerships — as the state grapples with a rental affordability crisis affecting hundreds of thousands of low and moderate-income residents.

Premier Chris Minns said the program was a direct response to the evidence showing that the housing crisis was undermining NSW's economic competitiveness by making it impossible for essential workers — teachers, nurses, paramedics, aged care workers — to live within reasonable distance of the places they worked. "When a nurse can't afford to live in the city where she works at the hospital, that is not a housing problem. That is a healthcare workforce crisis and an economic crisis," he said.

The program includes a new Affordable Rental Incentive Scheme that will provide 15-year government rent guarantees to private developers who commit a minimum 20 per cent of dwellings in new projects to affordable rents — defined as no more than 30 per cent of the median income for a given area. Several major developers have already indicated interest in the scheme, with the guarantee reducing their financing risk and allowing them to cross-subsidise affordable tenancies through market-rate product.

Land contributions from government agencies, including sites held by Transport NSW, Health NSW, and Education NSW, will form a central component of the delivery strategy. The government identified 42 surplus government sites that could be transferred to the housing program.

Construction of the first new-build social housing under the program is expected to begin within six months.

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