“The Greens are disappointed that the proportion of public housing in the ACT Government’s land release program this year will only be 1.5%. This does not go anywhere far enough to meet the real and growing demand for affordable housing in our city.
“The Government has committed to “growing social housing stock in Canberra through development and purchases in both new and existing suburbs”.
“Given that the ACT currently has around 7% of all dwellings as public housing, 1.5% is nowhere near keeping up with growth in demand and population.
“There is an opportunity here for the Government to deliver a long-term vision for housing in the Territory. We can’t afford for these efforts to be piecemeal if we’re serious about tackling Canberra’s housing affordability crisis.
“The number of dwellings set aside for community housing – at 80, or 2% – is low. The Greens believe that providers would be able to take up more sites if they were provided at a discount to market value, in recognition of the below-market rental homes they provide to lower-income people. Providers should also be given a longer pipeline of sites – for example over 3 to 5 years – to allow the sector to plan ahead and to attract providers from interstate.
“We welcome the inclusion of affordable, public and community housing in well-located sites in the City to the Lake precinct and in Woden and Belconnen Town Centres. The City to the Lake site is particularly important as it responds to justifiable community concerns that the area will end up only for the well off.”
