Lack of affordable housing endangering our community

Feb 15, 2018 ,

Lack of affordable housing endangering our community, pushing key workers out of Sydney

A study released last week has highlighted the dire state of Sydney’s housing crisis with key workers including teachers, police officers and nurses being forced out of Sydney due to a lack of affordable housing.

The study from the University of Sydney funded by Teachers Mutual Bank, Firefighters Mutual Bank and Police Bank has shown that between 2006 and 2016 a number of Sydney suburbs had lost key workers including Parramatta where numbers of key workers declined by 21.4%, forcing workers to travel long distances to work from regional areas sometimes 100km out of Sydney.

Andrea Galloway, CEO Evolve Housing said that sadly the findings in this report were not surprising.

“The lack of affordable housing across Sydney continues to put our community at risk when key workers are forced to travel long distances to work especially when most are doing irregular hours and shift work,” said Ms Galloway.

“While the study highlights the fact that many key workers are out of reach of home ownership, at Evolve we are also seeing renters facing the same problems as more and more people turn to us in need of social and affordable housing. The average Sydney rental reached $550 per week in December 2017, which has pushed many low and even middle income families into housing stress as they struggle to afford housing payments on top of the high cost of Sydney living.”

“People are being pushed to live out of Sydney but still need to commute back to the city to work and earn a living for their family. We need to develop more affordable housing that is accessible to employment and transport hubs to allow people to work and remain active members of their community without the added stress of hours of daily commuting.”

Evolve Housing  is playing our role in increasing housing supply with our latest mix tenure housing development Harts Landing ready for tenants next month. Harts Landing in Penrith is a development that has resulted in 268 apartments. This is a true mixed tenure model with 124 of these apartments being affordable housing, 10 social housing dwellings, and 134 private market housing dwellings. The development also delivers two commercial spaces on the ground floor. One space will be occupied by a social enterprise café and the other by Echo Realty a not for profit real estate agency.

Andrea Galloway said “As part of the vibrant Thornton Estate community in Penrith, Harts Landing will be home for over 500 people in the heart of Western Sydney where the need for affordable housing is crucial.”

“The development is located within a 5 minute walk of Penrith train station, buses, shopping centres, education and employment facilities as we know that it is important to connect people not only with affordable housing but also with the amenities to help them thrive in their community.”

Harts Landing is a landmark development for the community housing sector. This sustainable housing model is a breakthrough for the sector and demonstrates how a community housing provider and property development company with the support of government can partner to grow the supply of appropriate and affordable housing. The affordable housing properties will be managed by Evolve Housing’s for-purpose real estate agency, Echo Realty.

For more information on Harts Landing or to register interest for when they are available visit www.echorealty.com.au/harts

END RELEASE.

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