SGCH Group CEO Scott Langford has welcomed the Minns Government 30/15 planning reforms to create more social and affordable housing. 

Commenting on the ‘New reforms to create more affordable housing’ announcement from NSW Government Ministers Rose Jackson MP and Paul Scully MP, Scott Langford said: 

“NSW Government reforms make it faster and easier to build more affordable housing that will help us to get blood to the muscle of the economy, those workers who need access to housing they can afford in proximity to where the jobs are located.   

To deliver the scale of affordable housing required to make our economy and community work it must be encoded into the DNA of our cities. I commend the government for the planning reforms confirmed today, including the bonus floor and height space for developments that include 10-15% affordable housing in return for density uplifts of up to 30% managed by registered community housing providers.  

The inclusion of 15% affordable housing in key precincts is essential to ensure thriving and diverse places that work. Great developers will support this and work with regulated community housing providers because of the contribution it makes to place, community and economic outcomes. It protects and enhances value including maintaining the social licence that is crucial for development to be undertaken.  

These reforms demonstrate that government is serious about tackling the housing challenge and now needs to ensure that affordable housing is not the balancing item in the equation. To make plans a reality with 10-15% affordable housing, feasibilities will need to stack which means government now needs to ensure that the planning uplift is significant, realisable and other infrastructure charges don’t weigh down projects.  

Earlier this year SGCH partnered with Astrolabe Group to look at the proposed 30% density uplift with 15% affordable housing. We concluded it would be tough. But that was based on only 30% density uplift and with existing settings. These announcements are a game changer. 

Developers, community housing providers and investors can look forward to partnering with the certainty of scale and pipeline to deliver this affordable housing!”