Unlock Crown land to address Illawarra housing shortage: Developers

On Friday, the NSW government announced Crown Lands and the Land and Housing Corporation would develop a strategy to identify parcels of land suitable for housing.

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"By unlocking Crown land we can ensure more properties are built while investing in projects that create local jobs and support local economies," lands and water minister Kevin Anderson said.

In July, the NSW government announced the redevelopment of 10 hectares of Transport-owned land near Redfern in Sydney into affordable and market-price housing.

The same model could be rolled out elsewhere in the state, and in particular areas such as the Illawarra where there is acute housing shortages, Property Council Illawarra Regional Director Michelle Guido said.

"This decision by the government to identify suitable Crown land sites to support housing supply in the regions is greatly welcomed as it will help to accelerate the release of new housing into the market to address the growing regional supply gap," she said.

Data from housing body Everybody's Home recently highlighted the cost that surging rents is having on the region.

A lack of affordable rental properties is costing the region $642 million in lost economic activity each year.

CEO of the Housing Trust Michele Adair said turning over under-utilised Crown land to housing providers would have the greatest social impact.

"That land is owned by the public and should most certainly be used to deliver social and affordable rental housing, because we know that's going to be one of the highest impact uses of public land for the greater good," she said.

Ms Guido said the opening up of Crown land was a positive first step, but that governments needed to ensure the land was ready for development.

"Importantly this land needs to be serviced and enabling infrastructure fast-tracked if it is to be part of a timely solution to the significant issues being faced across our regions," she said.

"Ideally, the strategy that follows will address current issues with planning processes and enabling infrastructure to deliver the right types of housing in the right places.

"Social amenity and access are important to livability and jobs growth and needs to be considered as part of the bigger picture."

The NSW government recently knocked back Kiama Council's attempt to sell off council-owned land south of Bombo quarry.

With the Illawarra-Shoalhaven expected to be home to an additional 54,000 people by 2041, Ms Guido said efforts to unlock under-utilised land were needed.

"A continued focus on supply is required to ensure we have the homes to house those migrating to the region."

The most recent project from the Housing Trust in Corrimal is on the site of a former government school, and is their next major project in Dapto.

While these sites were connected to roads and sewers, Ms Adair said not all Crown land was immediately suitable for housing.

"A lot of Crown land may be in areas that don't yet have infrastructure - roads, drainage, sewerage - although it is a very good idea, it can be slow to deliver because the infrastructure is necessary."

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