As the NSW Minister for Housing, it’s my responsibility to provide homes for people in need, ordinary people who are down on their luck, those with a disability or people who simply can’t afford the private rental market.

So it was a great bonus for me, and an even bigger bonus for thousands of people on the Housing NSW waiting list, that the Australian Government’s Nation Building Economic Stimulus Plan provided $1.9 billion to construct more than 6,000 new homes across the State over two years.

I’m very pleased to say that, just from the Stimulus Plan alone, more than 100 individuals and families celebrated the festive season with new roofs over their heads and can really start planning their lives instead of existing in limbo.

And, by June 2012, every one of the 6,000 Stimulus homes will be completed and shortly after tenanted, mostly by people who have waited a long time for what most of us take for granted, a place to call home.

The majority of cities and towns across the State have been very accepting, very accommodating, of our plans to help locals in need and tradies needing work by providing Stimulus homes.

The NSW Government has had to legislate to self-approve developments because our developments generally take twice as long as private developments to pass through Councils.

However, this does not mean we bypass good planning processes or just build because we can. 
 

> Absolutely none of the Stimulus housing projects are high density.
> None of them are built in clusters.
> None can be built without consultation with local Councils and with local residents.
> All are architecturally designed to blend with local communities.
> All have to meet Housing NSW guidelines for social housing design.
> All have to meet Australian Government requirements for environmentally sustainable dwellings.
> All comply with the Building Code of Australia.
> The designs produced by Housing NSW have won an array of industry awards over the years for their excellence.
 

David Borger
Minister for Housing

 Stage 1

Goal: To deliver 858 new homes through 119 projects by June 2010

Currently (as at 18 January 2010):

• 858 dwellings have started construction
• 228 dwellings are complete (47 projects)
• All relocations complete
• $137 million spent.

Stage 2 update

Goal: To deliver 3,656 homes by December 2010 and a further 1,432 homes by June 2012. A further 354 homes will be delivered by the NSW Government by June 2012

Currently (as at 18 January 2010):

• 4,434 dwellings have now gone through the design process
• 4,877 dwellings have planning notification submitted
• 3,899 dwellings have planning approval received
• 2,683 dwellings have had contracts awarded
• 3,058 dwellings have started construction
• All relocations complete.

Maintenance

For the 2008/2009 financial year, $65.2 million was spent on maintenance for 19,248 properties.

For the 2009/2010 financial year (as at the end of December 2009), $35.2 million has been spent on maintenance for 5,973 properties. 

1. Housing NSW engages good-quality architects, some metropolitan and some regional, to undertake inspections of the every site and neighbourhood. Qualified planners are also engaged to provide expert planning advice and where necessary to review the history of architecture in the area. If there are any heritage issues, a heritage adviser is also engaged.

    

2. The architects and Housing NSW staff then meet with Council to seek views and will often re-design the project in the light of comments received.

    

3. A second meeting is also sought with Council – some Councils take up this option and others do not wish to comment further on the revised plans. Where affordable housing is being built, both Councils and Housing NSW must take account of the Affordable Rental Housing State Environment Planning Policy (SEPP), which allows medium-density housing to be built. Nonetheless, Local Development Control Plans (DCPs) are always considered and Housing NSW seeks to design generally in accordance with Council standards. Ultimately, Housing NSW wishes to ensure that social housing development is compatible with neighbouring development and is not adversely identified as social housing.

    

4. Every design is subject to a peer review by other architects and by a range of other experts. Each project has to meet Housing NSW design guidelines for social housing and Australian Government requirements for environmentally sustainable dwellings. For example, every project must have a water tank, achieve 5 or 6 star ratings for environmental features and 20 percent of all dwellings must be adaptable for people with disabilities.Great care is taken in the designs to reflect the local character of the neighbourhood. Some neighbourhoods are traditional, and designs will reflect this, and others are more mixed. Many dwellings are two storeys, as any landowner in NSW with a certain sized block of land may build to two storeys. Such dwellings are very common across NSW. Taller dwellings are built only where this is consistent with the area and these are a small minority of the program.

    

5. Housing NSW then consults with adjoining neighbours on the designs and copies of the designs are placed in Council for anyone else in the community who wishes to comment on the plans. The consultation process lasts 21 days.

    

6. Comments are sent to external accredited planning firms who are legally bound to act independently and to comply with all statutory and non-statutory requirements. The independent planner reviews the design against the relevant planning regulations. Most projects are put forward for approval under the Affordable Rental Housing SEPP. The planners also make recommendations as to whether comments made relate to the planning process (or are objections to social housing rather than to the building) and recommend action to Housing NSW or place conditions on the planning approval, if required, which Housing NSW must meet.

    

7. The Housing NSW Development Assessment and Review Team have no functional or organisational link with the development arms of the organisation and are accountable directly to the Chief Executive. Planning approval for developments assessed under the Affordable Rental Housing SEPP is given only by the Chief Executive or his delegate. If the projects are more that 20 units or over 8.5 metres in height, they are sent to the Nation Building Taskforce for assessment. In both cases, the developments are then reviewed by a further independent planner following a merit based assessment which considers comments received. They are either rejected or approved subject to conditions which are binding on Housing NSW.

    

8. Planning determinations are uploaded onto Housing NSW website at www.housing.nsw.gov.au for general public access.

The rigour of these processes is comparable to what takes place in Councils. To date this process has been very successful. While there are more than 500 projects that make up Housing NSW's program, only a dozen or so have attracted concerted community concern.

After completing the first home built in Australia under Stage 1 of the Nation Building Economic Stimulus Plan, the first home built under Stage 2 was completed and ready for occupation in Armidale just before Christmas.

The seven two- and three-bedroom units on Taylor Street, Armidale are owned by the Aboriginal Housing Office and will be managed by Housing NSW.

The construction of the development is worth over $1.7 million and features improved energy efficiency, offering water harvesting features, energy efficient gas hot-water service, insulation and low energy use light fittings.

Local builder, Boulus Construction Pty Ltd, constructed the homes employing approximately 90 tradespeople and 14 apprentices throughout construction.

A number of the units have already been allocated to tenants including Christine. Christine and her partner were previously homeless and in real need of housing assistance.

NSW has reached an important milestone with construction starting on the 4,000th property.

In 2009, 228 homes were completed under Stage 1 of the plan, with at least 630 more homes to be completed by June 2010.

This means more than 60 percent of the homes under the Stimulus Plan are now finished or in progress.

The 5,000th home is expected to start construction next month.

Over 300 building firms have been invited to bid for Housing NSW tenders under Stages 1 and 2 of the Nation Building Economic Stimulus Plan.

Housing NSW has a team of 122 building firms, with almost $730 million of work contracted out to date.

Homes and units being built under the Stimulus Plan are being built to a high standard and quality, as well as providing people in need with a new roof over their head.

Fifteen modern homes in Guildford, built by Degree Constructions at a cost of $2.9 million, have been designed to be energy efficient, with water harvesting features, insulation and low energy use light fittings.

Six of the homes are also adaptable to suit the needs of wheelchair users featuring hobless showers, levered taps, hand-held showers and wider doorways and corridor.

For new tenants Valerie and Joe this means they have a fully accessible property.

“This is the first new home that we have had and to have a single-storey, fully usable home makes such a difference. The shower access is great and the fact that there are built-in robes in both bedrooms lets me get through easily using my walker. Even the laundry is a dream to use. We hope this will be our home for a long time, we love it!” they said.

New neighbours Joyce and Michael have also been given new homes in the small township of Watanobbi on the NSW Central Coast.

They were both facing extreme hardship – one financial and the other physical.

“The timing (for my new home) couldn’t be better as I’ve been recently diagnosed with osteoporosis,” Joyce said.

“I’m very happy with the rent and the house, it’s much cosier and I enjoy the carpets - the polished boards in the other house weren’t safe for me.”

Michael, who is in a wheelchair and undergoes dialysis three times a week, said he likes his new home, which is spacious and suits his needs.

The property was handed over to community housing provider Community Housing Ltd (CHL) by Housing NSW.  CHL’s Managing Director, Steve Bevington, said without this affordable housing option, the quality of life for Joyce and Michael would be much harder.

“Given some of the difficulties that people face in older age, I think community housing is a critical contributor to a certain standard of living that everyone in our society is entitled to,” Steve said.

To look at photos of the types of homes which have been completed and the tenants who have moved into them, visit www.housing.nsw.gov.au.

National Shelter and Shelter NSW last month responded to protests about public housing developments in Sydney, claiming that the ‘not in my backyard’ approach was obstructing Government’s role of achieving an affordable and fair housing system in Australia.

“We are all vulnerable to homelessness and housing stress. If any of these protestors were to experience homelessness at some time in their life, I’m sure they would be relying on the availability of public housing,” Chairperson of National Shelter, Adrian Pisarki, said.

For more information visit www.shelter.org.au.

Meanwhile community housing provider Compass Housing Services has also called for reason.

Compass CEO, Greg Budworth, said his organisation had already been given management of 62 new Stimulus-built homes in Cessnock, Edgeworth, Toronto, East Maitland and Scone.

He said Compass would be working hard to gain ownership of as many as possible of the remaining 5,400 properties being built under Stage 2 of the Stimulus Plan for the benefit of Hunter people. These properties are yet to be assigned to community housing providers across the State through a Housing NSW tender.

“Every day we have families come to us who can’t afford to rent in the private market,” Mr Budworth said.

“They are individuals and families who have experienced domestic violence, have disabilities, are elderly, have become unemployed or are otherwise financially disadvantaged,” he said.

“These are ordinary people facing extraordinarily difficult circumstances and they deserve a break.

“Having a new home means an enormous amount to them.”

Mr Budworth said local communities must overcome the stigma attached to social housing. 

“We need the whole community’s support – turning our back on the opportunity for new housing for people in need is not the answer.

“Our tenants are good people who care for their homes and they deserve a fair go.

“We don’t get to choose who our neighbours are if it’s a private home, and this should be no different.

“Some of the comments being made about social housing tenants are prejudiced and do not reflect our experience of the 1,400 people we are proud to count as our tenants.

“We’re pleased to manage these homes and our tenants are elated to be moving into them, ” he said. 

Tenders have been called to transfer ownership and management of 4,500 social housing homes, now being rolled out under Stage 2 of the Australian Government's Nation Building Economic Stimulus Plan, to not-for-profit organisations.

NSW Minister for Housing David Borger said 12 not-for-profit community housing providers had already been approved for 857 Stage 1 homes, of which 228 are now finished and ready for occupation.

“The majority of these properties will be managed and owned by growth providers, who were selected by a competitive tender process based on their demonstrated capacity to undertake activities such as debt equity, investment, and housing acquisition,” Mr Borger said.

“Now we are seeking expressions of interest from suitable not-for-profit housing organisations to manage and or own properties being built under Stage 2 of the Stimulus Plan.

“For providers, owning the properties enables them to use their asset base to leverage private sector finance to buy or build even more homes and that’s good news for people on housing waiting lists.

Tenders close 4.00 pm, Friday 26 February 2010. For more information visit http://tenders.nsw.gov.au/housing.