NSW Housing Minister Rose Jackson tells conference of industry leaders of exodus of 30-40-year-olds – driven out by the affordability crisis.
Sydney is losing a generation because of a chronic lack of affordable housing, according to NSW Housing Minister Rose Jackson.
But the high-flying cabinet member pledged to work with the private sector to tackle the exodus flagged by the Productivity Commission.
“Younger people are voting with their feet and leaving this city,” the MP told the NSW Property Council 2024 Housing Summit.
“Double the number of 30- to 40-year-olds left Sydney then arrived here. We are losing that generation because they are already finding it extremely difficult to afford stable housing in this market.
“We are determined to build a city that works for them, but we have to do that without making the unaffordability challenges worse.”
Key to solving the critical shortage is finding ways to build more homes without ramping up the prices.
Price Rises
Given industry analysis from CBRE– presented just before the Minister took to the stage at the event – suggesting prices needed to rise by 30%, it is going to be a tough task.
“I did just about fall off my chair when I heard the conclusion of the previous presentation that in order to activate supply prices would need to rise by 30%,” Jackson told the audience.
“That’s going to be a challenge for any government. We are here to work with you and be part of the conversation about what levers we can pull?
“Is it time? Is it time in the planning system?
“Time is something that we can talk about. Is it government intervention in the form of guarantees, risk assumption.
“What role can we play taking on risk, whether it’s in financing or other parts of the matrix of things that come together to make a project viable and feasible. Is there a role for government interventions or guarantees to assume risk to get projects moving?”
Acknowledging the Housing Accord will be delivered by the private market,” she said: “We need to continue the honest conversation about what it is going to take to get the 90 to 95% of homes under the accord delivered by the housing market.”
