Social housing an investment in healthier cities, says Minister for Housing
The NSW Minister for Housing, Rose Jackson, made a passionate case for social housing investment at UNSW’s annual Gene Willsford UTZON Lecture this week.
“We should not view social housing as a government version of a poor box, where we might charitably drop a few dollars in every few years, but a vital strategic investment in our social infrastructure,” Minister Jackson said.
“Housing is more than a roof over our heads. It is the foundation on which our lives are built. And when we ensure everyone has access to safe and affordable housing, we create a society in which we all can thrive.”
The Minister for Housing’s comments come after the Minns government’s first budget in June included a $5.1 billion investment to deliver 8,400 social homes, the largest single investment in social housing in NSW's history.
Jackson’s keynote speech asked what the purpose of housing should be, and framed it as a basic need, where social housing was not a charitable chore but an investment delivering broader public value.
”We’re doing it because our entire society rests on the fundamental premise that our form of democracy can meet basic needs,” she said. “Because if that is not true, we are in a dark and dangerous place. We are investing in the wellbeing of our entire society.”
Jackson also made the case for “beautiful housing.”
“Social housing has got to stop being a blight on our streets. We should live in places with beautiful things,” she said.
“Government-designed and delivered buildings can, and should, be the most attractive, most sustainable and most accessible. We can be leaders and standard setters.”
After the lecture, presented by UNSW’s Cities Institute and School of Built Environment, an all-female panel of industry experts further discussed issues confronting housing and healthy cities.
Rentals, land supply, design and Build To Rent were key issues despite the glow surrounding the recent opening of the Sydney Metro City line, which the Government Architect’s Director Design Excellence, Olivia Hyde, noted is “an incredible example, a beautiful example of good design and how that wins over people’s hearts and minds.”
“The federal government should be pumping heaps of money into public transport because that’s what’s going to unlock heaps of other areas,” she added.
Minister Jackson noted her government’s desire to unlock more land after its own recent land audit to “move to a coherent whole of government pipeline to activate land for public benefit.”
“I think that is working well but I will say we are still working up against a culture of agency defensiveness of their land assets,” she added. “Land is so valuable in Sydney…so it is a project to get our friends in Transport (for NSW), Health and Education to realise land they aren’t using, that’s just sitting there, could be put to a great purpose. It is a cultural shift within government.”
Pressure on the rental market remains a hot topic. Hazel Easthope, A/Director of the UNSW City Futures Research Centre, noted “We don’t do renting particularly well here when we compare ourselves to the international stage.”
“When we compare ourselves to other places we should be saying are we providing the conditions in which people can make homes?” she added.
“Even the people who have found appropriate homes are really afraid they’re going to lose them…We can do better.”
When asked for their ideas on an immediate solution for the housing crisis, Minister Jackson said beyond the delivery of social housing, her immediate priority – before the end of this year’s Parliamentary term – is the legislative prohibition of no-grounds evictions.
“It’s not going to solve all of the challenges (but) it is foundational to me that people in the rental market have more security than they have.”
A recording of the Gene Willsford UTZON Lecture, delivered by NSW Minister for Housing, The Hon. Rose Jackson MLC, and featuring a panel discussion with Olivia Hyde, Elle Davidson, and Hazel Easthope, moderated by Lucy Turnbull, is available at the Utzon Lecture Collective page.
