The Greens believe that housing is a basic right for all Australians. How to ensure that everyone has a home that’s affordable, safe and secure?
The reality is that we have a housing crisis, made worse by past government “solutions” which included withdrawing from building social housing and leaving almost all new development to private developers.
Around one in three Australian households are renters. Renters are struggling with skyrocketing rents, unfair evictions, and a chronic lack of public, social, and affordable housing. More people are in rental stress, having to pay far more than 30% of their income in rent. Although rent rises in NSW have become more moderated over the past year, they are still rising higher than wage increases because of the lack of available properties. For vulnerable groups such as older private renters or women and children escaping domestic violence, finding long-term affordable accommodation is almost impossible.
For potential home buyers, house prices have increased over eight times faster than incomes since the 1990s in Sydney, particularly. Home ownership for younger people (25-34 years) has fallen dramatically. Saving for a deposit can take years and the size of mortgages will likely to be a burden until retirement without two employed owners.
What is affordable housing?
There is no agreed definition of “affordable housing”. The closest definition was agreed by a 2005 meeting of Australian Housing, Local Government and Planning Ministers which described affordable housing as “housing which is affordable for low and moderate income households across home ownership, private rental as well as public rental tenures … The benchmark for affordability is 25 to 30 per cent of the income of these target groups.”
In contrast, the NSW Department of Planning considers affordable housing to be “rental housing for members of the community who may not be able to afford to rent in the general market”. Nor is affordable housing the same as social housing which provides housing for people who are unable to afford private rental market rents in most areas or who will find it difficult to be accepted into private rental due to a need for medical, age-related or other forms of support. Social housing includes public housing, community housing provided by not-for-profit organisations and State owned and managed Indigenous housing (SOMIH).
In total, over 424,000 Australian households are on social housing waitlists. AHURI research has projected growth in demand for social housing to the year 2037, estimating that over 1.1 million social dwellings will be needed by that point. Households on waitlists have increased significantly, with demand for social housing far exceeding the slow pace of new supply – around 3,000 new homes being built annually.
What are the issues?
- There are many reasons why there are too few homes for our population, representing the outcome of government policies over the past 20 years, the rate of new developments and fluctuating immigration levels. Recent studies reveal that Australia’s housing stock has declined over the past 20 years and that we have less available housing stock than most developed countries. If we were able to build an additional 50,000 houses per year for 10 years, we might have enough to house everyone. Factors that influence housing availability and affordability include:. Steady immigration into Australia provides new workers and energy but also requires building additional housing.
- A tax system that advantages investors over home buyers through negative gearing and a low capital gains tax.
- Approximately 10% of homes are not occupied for significant periods.
- Many potential homes are rented out for short-term housing, eg Air-BNB. Reducing the amount of these would make more homes available as long-term rentals.
- The construction industry is short on qualified workers. The TAFE system is still recovering from being deliberately neglected under both Coalition and Labor governments, before it can train more workers.
- High interest rates and the increasing cost of homes have made it increasingly difficult for lower income workers to get home loan finance.
- Unlike most other countries, Australian housing policies force almost everyone into the private housing market. Other countries have institutional mechanisms for ensuring that homes are available at lower cost for those who need them.
What are the government’s plans?
Responding to the housing crisis, the NSW government has created strategies that bypass and override the role of councils in setting environmental and planning standards by creating statutory authorities such as the Housing Development Authority. Canada Bay local government area (and the Strathfield LGA to a lesser extent) has been targeted for extensive housing development. Recent government planning includes:
- Parramatta Road Corridor Urban Transformation Strategy (PRCUTS) (from 2016) – 27,000 additional homes proposed.
- Transport Oriented Development (TOD) (2024) – 18,000 additional homes proposed in Accelerated Precincts.
- Low and Mid-Rise housing (LMR).
- State Significant Development (2025), with 9 SSD projects in Canada Bay LGA as of January 2026. (For those with long memories, this is the old “Part 3A” system for ministerial approval of large projects.)
These government plans ignore their own research which has found traffic congestion and flooding risks already severely limit any new housing developments.
The NSW government is desperately hoping that, with so much rezoning, developers will flood the market with new housing. However, developers already have plenty of rezoned properties that they can develop. In order to ensure premium profits, developers will continue to avoid flooding the market.
It’s now clear that the private sector won’t build the scale of housing we need. That’s why federal and state government must step up and directly develop the required housing themselves.
BUT – building more houses without a comprehensive plan that includes more childcare centres, schools, public transport options and hospital services is leaving the most difficult stuff to others!
The Greens plan
The Greens are committed to making housing affordable, safe and secure for everyone. The Greens will invest in 10,000 new public and social homes each year in NSW for the next 10 years.
We’ll ensure renters have stronger rights and are protected – making renting a genuine, secure, and affordable option for lifelong renters who have been locked out of private home ownership.
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What kind of development do we need?
[Housing without infrastructure will always be inadequate]