The Labor Party has outlined its blueprint to tackle the growing housing crisis on the Central Coast, with a focus on helping first-home buyers enter the housing market, building more social and affordable housing, easing the pressure on renters and implementing long-term planning for housing and homelessness organisations.
Shadow Minister for Housing Rose Jackson met with the region’s Labor MPs, candidate for Terrigal Sam Boughton and local mother Kelly West at Bateau Bay on February 9 to outline the plan.
The group gathered in front of a former public housing property in Bateau Bay which was privatised in 2020 and has remained vacant since 2012.
West, a single mother with a four-year-old daughter, is struggling to secure suitable public housing and has been priced out of the market due to the high cost of rent.
She is currently living with her aunt and has recently has been put on the priority list for public housing, but told it would take up to two years to find suitable housing.
“The fact that this house has remained empty makes me feel very upset because there are so many people like me who find it so hard to afford rent,” West said.
“We need more social housing and investment by the Government.”
Jackson said it was for her to talk to Central Coast residents and organisations dealing with the housing crisis.
“Our Central Coast MPs have been tireless advocates for their communities about the local impact of the housing crisis,” she said.
“Labor has listened and released a comprehensive plan to deal with community members’ concerns.”
Shadow Minister for the Central Coast David Harris said MPs’ offices were inundated with people seeking assistance for housing and Member for Gosford Liesl Tesch said the social housing waitlist is well-over 10 years.
“Labor’s plan takes the problem seriously and offers real solutions for first homebuyers, renters and the most vulnerable people in our community seeking public housing,” she said.
Labor Candidate for Terrigal Sam Boughton said he has spoken to young people who have full time work and yet are having to live out of their cars because it’s impossible for them to find an affordable rental.
“This also has flow-on effects to other areas of society,” he said.
“As an example, if the workforce cannot afford to live in an area, this negatively impacts local businesses.”
Labor’s plan will: remove or reduce the stamp duty tax burden for 95 per cent of first home buyers over the next three years; charge the Greater Cities Commission to set new housing targets matched to infrastructure; introduce a mandatory requirement for 30 per cent of all homes built on surplus government land to be set aside for social, affordable and universal housing; boost housing supply in the regions; create Homes NSW; deliver longer term funding certainty for homelessness and housing support organisations and tenancy advocacy services; allow no new developments on dangerous floodplains; create a Rental Commissioner; protect renters from unfair evictions by creating reasonable grounds for ending a lease; ban the practice of secret rent-bidding; implement a Portable Bond Scheme; and make it easier for renters to have pets in their homes.
The MPs said the plan comes as new data reveals that the waiting list for public housing has grown by 30 per cent in some areas as the costs of private housing and rent skyrocket across the Coast.
Data released by the Department of Communities and Justice show that the number of residents seeking public housing in the Wyong area it has increased by 15 per cent and in Gosford by six per cent.
“The wait for a two-bedroom place in Gosford has blown out from 5-10 years to over a decade according to the same data,” they said.
The Domain December Report revealed significant spikes in the cost of housing and rent across the Coast last year, with house prices increasing by 28.1 per cent in East Gosford and 39.3 per cent in Wyong.
Rent has also shot up by 7.1 per cent in Gosford, 13.6 per cent in The Entrance and 8.9 per cent in Wyong since last year.
Verified source: Media release, Feb 9, 2023, Central Coast Labor MPs