A lack of available land, delays in development approvals and a community resistance to medium and high-density housing projects were identified as some of the key problems in addressing the Central Coast’s housing crisis at a summit on September 7.
Held at Tuggerah’s Red Tree Theatre, the Housing Summit saw business leaders, government representatives and regional stakeholders gather to discuss the lack of affordable housing on the Coast and give input on the way forward.
A full program of speakers outlined the effects lack of affordable housing is having, particularly in relation to business growth, and the major obstacles to providing more affordable housing in the region, with several viable solutions mooted.
Organised by Business NSW Central Coast, Pacific Link Housing and Regional Development Australia, Central Coast, the summit saw a packed theatre addressed by local MPs, housing providers, developers, planning experts and representatives from Coast businesses, Central Coast Local Health District, Central Coast Council, Newcastle University and the Darkinjung Local Aboriginal Land Council, as the largest private landowner in the region.
It also saw an announcement by Minister for Planning and Minister for Homes, Anthony Roberts, that an Urban Development Program committee was to be established for the region.
Business NSW Central Coast Regional Director, Paula Martin, said that with an annual population growth of 7 per cent, the region would be home to more than 400,000 residents by 2041, with an extra 43,000 homes needed to cope with the growth.
“More than 2,000 jobs in the region were advertised last month and we need to offer affordable housing options to meet the needs of these workers,” she said.
Martin said with house prices having soared and an average weekly rental rate of $620pw, many were struggling to find somewhere to live, with almost 2,000 Coasties homeless.
“The number of development applications has doubled since May, 2020, but this is also leading to increased wait times for approval,” she said.
Larissa Llowarch of Key2 Realty said demands on the social housing sector from very low to low income earners was extremely high with providers such as Pacific Link Housing struggling to keep up with demand.
“We’ve had under one per cent rental vacancy for some time,” she said.
“Of 600 properties listed for rent, only two were affordable by very low income renters and, of just 81 properties affordable to low income renters, only two had three bedrooms.
“Many people are displaced.”
Central Coast Local Health District CEO, Scott McLachlan , said the health district looked to employ 600-700 more people each year to meet the growing demand on health services, with around 70 per cent of those expected to come from outside the region.
“A third of those will struggle to find housing – it will be an extreme challenge in the next few years,” he said.
McLachlan said the district loses 8-10 per cent of new recruits each year, with lack of housing one of the reasons cited.
Mark Daniels of Borg Manufacturing said the company employs over 2,000 people, with more than 50 per cent of those renters.
“We’ve noticed a big gap in trying to attract staff; we don’t attract people from outside the region,” he said.
Daniels said the company had invested in a lot of land over the years and was keen to develop housing, but the pathway to approval was a roadblock.
“Ecology holds lots of things up,” he said.
Acting Dean of the University of Newcastle, Michael Bowyer, said as the development of Gosford as an educational precinct, fuelled by the new Research Centre at Gosford hospital and the new university campus planned for the old Mitre 10 site, would put further pressure on housing.
“Accommodation is essential in attracting students from out of area and overseas,” he said.
“Housing availability will have a huge impact on what we can do in Gosford.
“We have 50-60 people studying nursing at Gosford and many of those are living in Sydney.”
The squeeze is also being felt by middle income earners.
As businesses try to attract more workers of varying pay grades, more than 70 per cent of attendees saw housing affordability as restricting the Coast’s growth as an economy.
Panellists identified lack of land, difficulty in having housing development approved and resistance to infill accommodation as major hurdles to be overcome, with various possible solutions put forward.
Pacific Link Housing CEO, Ian Lynch, said a change in mindset was needed.
“We need to think of new supply – we need to think about mixed tenancy and community cohesion – housing needs to be though of as critical infrastructure,” he said.
Urban Development Institute Australia (UDIA) Central Coast President, Caine King, said resistance to medium to high rise development was hindering housing projects.
“People are so eager to preserve the status quo, but of those developments which are going up, more than 50 percent of buyers are locals,” he said.
“We need to invest in a mix of housing in Gosford as the regional hub and we need to look at high rise in satellite suburbs such as Tuggerah, Erina and West Gosford, to connect with major centres in Gosford and Wyong.”
Much interest was generated by Eddie Ma, co-founder of the Sydney-based special design practice, Vigilanti, who outlined his affordable housing development model, Equity Housing.
Ma said decoupling house and land values could see more people able to afford to buy into their own home.
Such an arrangement would see people purchase their home and lease the land over a 99-year term, decreasing costs significantly.
The Equity Housing Model would see developments comprising 60 per cent of homes to be bought under the land-lease arrangement, with 40 per cent available for rent as affordable and social housing.
Shadow Minister for the Central Coast, David Harris, said he and his fellow Labor MPs supported the State Government’s Regional Housing Acceleration Plan and were constantly looking at different models to get people into housing.
He said incentives needed to be offered to investors to deliver affordable rentals over a 5-10 year lease period.
Executive Director of the Greater Cities Commission, Sarah Winter, said the commission was working on its Six Cities Regional Plan, with a specific Central Coast City Plan to be released in 2024.
She said the commission was keen to trial new models and would welcome suggestions of options for various partnerships to address the housing shortage.
Darkinjung Aboriginal Land Council CEO, Brendan Moyle , said as the region’s largest private land holder the Council was keen to provide housing opportunities for everyone.
“Some people seem to think we should preserve all our land as bushland,” Moyle said.
“We want to care for Country for everyone but we need doors open so we can develop housing.”
Central Coast Council Director, Environment and Planning, Alice Howe, said Council was determined to make sure there was more affordable housing stock within the region and improve the DA process.
Suggestions made for freeing up land for housing development included the use of Crown land for leasehold purposes, zoning revisions to make more land accessible, developing partnerships among key stakeholders to expedite development and encouraging more infill housing comprising medium and high density developments.
Terry Collins