Housing is a human right because everyone needs a safe and secure place to live. Decades of failed housing policies have left us in a housing crisis.
To reduce urban sprawl, we support the construction of new homes and apartments to increase residential densities around established city and suburban centres. However, planning processes and new developments should deliver greater affordability, accessibility and urban amenities for existing communities as well as new ones.
Housing for all
Newcastle is in the grips of a housing crisis, and all levels of government must work together to solve it. New housing developments provide an opportunity for the Council to address the housing crisis.
Thirty-seven per cent of people in the City of Newcastle are renting, according to the last Census. Nine per cent of all Newcastle households were experiencing housing stress in 2021, which predated the onset of our current housing crisis. The current waiting time for social housing in Newcastle is 5 to 10 years, with a shortage of nearly 2,000 social housing properties to meet today’s need.
Greens on Council will:
- Fight for planning processes that are community-driven and transparent.
- Create a new position of Affordable Housing Officer within the City of Newcastle.
- Ensure that redeveloped public housing lands will not be privatised and will remain 100% public, social and affordable, into perpetuity.
- Push for large private housing developments in the City of Newcastle to deliver 30% permanent affordable housing.
- Initiate a free moving van hiring service for renters. Working with our local community service and tenant support organisations, the Council will introduce an innovative program targeted to the needs of renters experiencing early lease termination, relying on low incomes or leaving domestic violence situations.
- Stand alongside social housing residents in Hamilton South to ensure that a renewal program is ‘tenant-led’, meaning that residents maintain a veto on all decisions through the planning and delivery stages.
- Move for the establishment of a Dedicated Homelessness Unit within Council, staffed to ensure the delivery of the Council’s strategies and commitments to eliminate homelessness.
- Introduce a 5% empty homes levy, for homes left empty for more than six months without a genuine reason
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Campaign at the Council and State level for the following additional measures to be imposed in rezonings associated with urban renewal corridors, the Transit Oriented Developments program and the Broadmeadow precinct:
- Council and Government-owned land allocated for new residential development remains in public ownership and delivers at least 30% public and social housing, and at least 20% affordable housing, into perpetuity.
- Design standards are applied to ensure that apartments will not only be affordable to families but also designed to meet their needs.
- New housing will be fully electric, including rooftop solar and electric vehicle charging where possible and capable of being retrofitted for vehicle-to-grid bi-directional charging.
- New housing developments should ensure accessibility and adaptability for disabled and ageing residents to meet a minimum of Liveable Housing Guidelines - Silver Standard, with targets for Gold and Platinum Standard inclusion for Newcastle residents with higher access needs.
