Analysis of how the community housing provider sector could support delivery of Affordable Housing

The City of Sydney (the City) has a long history of providing Affordable Housing across the local area. The provision and availability of Affordable Housing supports a diverse and functional city. This enables people on lower incomes the opportunity to live and work in the city.

The supply of Affordable Housing is critical to support the economic and social wellbeing of the city. The City of Sydney Affordable Housing Program requires developer contributions towards the cost of providing Affordable Housing.

The City has so far collected $343 million in contributions and distributed them to City West Housing to build and manage Affordable Housing. Almost 1,000 dwellings have resulted from the City’s affordable housing contribution schemes.

The City intends to expand the list of community housing providers (CHPs) who may receive contribution funds that are collected under the Affordable Housing Program. Accordingly, the City sought to undertake preparation of a Distribution Plan that will detail how funds are to be acquitted and distributed among CHPs.

What we did

Atlas carried out research into the operational environment of the CHP sector in NSW to investigate how the distribution of contribution funds could facilitate and support the delivery of Affordable Housing in the City of Sydney.

The research and analysis was to assist the City as it considers distribution options and eventually a Distribution Plan.

The outcome

An Interim Distribution Plan is currently in place and will commence from 1 July 2024. A final distribution plan is being prepared and will be reported to Council for consideration.