Call for action on housing delivery

Member for Terrigal Adam Crouch is pushing for stronger action on housing delivery following the release of Pacific Link Housing’s 2024 report on The State of Affordable Housing on the Central Coast.

The recently released report calls for six actions, three of which require significant State Government intervention.

These include: moving quickly to tender sites identified in land audit and ensuring regional coverage; setting local social and key worker housing targets alongside new five-year housing targets and provide clarity around Transport Orientated Developments; and channeling committed funds for social housing through programs that leverage the unique capacity and capability of the community housing sector.

Crouch said the report reinforced a lack of action by the State Government to address housing affordability.

“Despite announcement after announcement about tackling housing affordability there is still yet to be any concrete progress on the issue,” he said.

“Pacific Link Housing’s 2024 paper reinforces the need for the Government to do more and shows that months after a big announcement about Building Homes for NSW, nothing has progressed.

“Other than a shiny four-page brochure promising thousands of new homes in NSW, we are yet to see anything announced for the Central Coast – no sites confirmed, no projects started, absolutely nothing.”

Pacific Link’s report also calls for action on a local government level, calling for Central Coast Council to identify sites for development of new housing and expedite approvals for social and affordable housing projects.

East Ward Councillor Jared Wright said increasing housing supply must be a critical priority for all levels of government.

“In my role as a councillor, I will continue to investigate ways to lower DA approval times, so that we can get people into homes faster,” he said.

“Council has set bold affordable housing targets and agreed to identify Council-owned sites for development, which is a positive step towards increasing affordable housing supply locally.”