NSW Gov promises $400m boost to help housing affordability
Posted on Monday, June 22 2015 at 10:32 AM
Last week’s New South Wales State Budget will inject a record $400 million into the Housing Acceleration Fund (HAF) in order to speed up the delivery of more housing and put downward pressure on home prices, according to a government spokesperson.
Visiting a site for new homes in Sydney’s northwest,
NSW Premier Mike Baird, Treasurer Gladys Berejiklian and Minister for Planning
Rob Stokes said the largest-ever single contribution to the HAF will ensure
faster land releases across Sydney.
“This record investment will help put the dream of
home ownership within reach of more young families,” Baird said.
“One of the most important things we can do to
improve housing affordability is to increase housing supply.
“We’ve increased housing supply to the highest
levels in two decades – and we’re delivering the vital infrastructure needed to
support this new housing.”
The $400 million boost will take total HAF funding
to $966 million since 2012.
So far the HAF has been allocated for
infrastructure projects supporting 161,000 new dwellings and 1,200 hectares of
employment lands and it’s expected this new funding will at least double that
number.
This round of the HAF will include a focus on
projects that enable and facilitate increased housing in existing areas, and
will include projects that help facilitate new housing investment while
improving the infrastructure and amenity of existing areas.
The HAF has already funded key infrastructure
projects supporting new housing including upgrades to Camden Valley Way,
Richmond Road and Schofields Road in Western Sydney.
So far this financial year, about 7,750 of the NSW
Government’s First Home Owner Grants have been issued – an increase of 9.2 per
cent over the corresponding period last year.
Berejiklian said: “We know that housing
affordability is a very big issue for a lot of
people, and this record funding will help to put
downward pressure on prices.
“The grants we’ve issued to first homebuyers are
working to assist people across our community to get the keys to their new
home.”
Stokes said: “The Cudgegong
Road Station precinct… will be a thriving new community in close proximity to
the first station on Sydney’s new modern, world-class metro rail system.
“On top of being a terrific place to live and
having great public transport services, the precinct will also feature parks,
sporting fields and retail space for new shops, restaurants and cafes.”
The new station precinct is being prepared for
construction of more than 4,500 new homes. People will be able to buy into the
area within two years.
It sits directly opposite The Ponds, which will
have more than 4,200 dwellings when the final home is completed at the end of
the year.
Sydney’s northwest is forecast to have more than
70,000 homes built within the next three decades.
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