A draft Local Housing Strategy has been released by Cumberland City Council to help meet the future housing needs of the community.
“In my brief time as Mayor it has become very clear to me that Cumberland City is under housing stress,” said Mayor Steve Christou.
“Our public housing wait lists are growing, with more than 140,000 people waiting across NSW. This figure does not include people who are really struggling and sleeping rough or are living in low-income households.
“We know that in Cumberland between 2006 and 2016 there was a significant drop in the proportion of affordable rental housing for the low to very low income households from 53% to 34%.
“Around 19,000 households are experiencing housing stress, the majority (13,500) of which are in the rental market sector.
“We need greater investment in social and affordable housing by the NSW State Government. The supply of social housing stock simply does not match the growing numbers of households experiencing housing affordability problems.
“We also need to ensure the State Government makes renting fair and ensure a better balance between landlords and tenants.
“We want to hear from the community on what they think of our draft Housing Strategy and where they think housing should be provided in the future.”
The Strategy considers existing housing supply and demand drivers for additional housing opportunity based on the analysis of the demographic trends.
The Strategy also identifies a range of opportunities to address the issue of affordable housing. This includes providing incentives for housing providers to the direct provision of affordable housing.
Residents are invited to provide submissions by Tuesday, 31 March 2020.
