Kiama is facing a housing affordability crisis as the average house price passes $1m and the average rental rises above $600 per week.

While this is good news for property owners, many ‘local heroes’ such as nurses, veterans, aged care workers, police and hospitality staff cannot afford to live here.

“Kiama Council is the only one of four councils in our region that’s failed to recognise or respond to this crisis,” says Michele Adair, CEO of The Housing Trust, a Wollongong-based community housing not-for-profit providing safe, secure, comfortable and affordable rental housing across the region.

Ms Adair gives our councillors and Kiama Council an F when it comes to affordable housing initiatives.

In the Local Strategic Planning Statement, Kiama Council writes: “… while key workers may not be able to afford to enter the Kiama housing marking, affordable housing alternatives are available within relatively short travelling distance of Kiama which reduces the social impact of affordability in Kiama.”

Ms Adair says “This sentence, that they can live somewhere else and somebody else can manage the social impact, is a disgrace.

“What that says is that whoever wrote this statement believes – their dental hygienist, the person looking after their mum in an aged care facility, the barista making their coffee, someone changing the sheets in the Sebel for their friends – none of these people can live in the Kiama community.”

The Housing Trust is facilitating briefings this week for the region’s councillors and has sent surveys to council candidates to assess their level of knowledge about affordable housing.

The Trust will hold a public forum in two weeks to reveal the results of their survey.

Many present councillors and those standing for election are unclear what affordable housing is and what levers council can use to create this kind of housing, says Ms Adair.

The workshop will provide direct practical examples from other NSW councils.

Affordable housing is open to a broader range of household incomes than social housing, so people can earn more income and still be eligible. Rent is also calculated differently and there are different tenancy arrangements.

In NSW it is usually managed by not-for-profit community housing providers, and/or by private organisations, like The Housing Trust.

“Lots of people will be surprised to learn that as a regional person in NSW you can earn up to $76,125 per year and still be eligible for affordable housing – this covers early career nurses, teachers and directors of pre-schools,” says Ms Adair.

“Business will face a crisis in recruiting staff because there is nowhere nearby to live. We have zero vacancy rates for affordable rental properties in Shellharbour or further south.

“Kiama Council’s position is quite extraordinary. It doesn’t have a policy or plan. It is a requirement under the Act to have an affordability plan. Kiama Council’s position to me seems inconsistent with that law.”

Council has commenced work on a new Local Housing Strategy as part of the Kiama Local Strategic Planning Statement (LSPS), to be adopted by 30 June 2022, which can include affordable housing initiatives.

WHAT THE CANDIDATES SAY

Kathy Rice, The Greens

As a Councillor I tried to start the discussion about affordable housing on several occasions, but Council itself has not been particularly responsive.

There is a prejudice in this community that was seen when the Shoalhaven Street flats were built. There’s a real sensitivity there.

People don’t realise affordable housing is not for people with drug habits or people with generational unemployment. It can be for people who for various reasons have had some bad luck. They may well be someone who had a respectable professional job at one time.

Or they may be working in retail or housekeeping, hospitality, aged care, policing. Most of these people would live in Shellharbour which is now also becoming less affordable.

We really do need to do something and I look forward to finding out more at the Housing Trust seminar.

Karen Renkema-Lang, S.A.F.E. Kiama

We understand that people from all walks of life can find themselves without a long-term secure place to live. This includes young people who grew up in Kiama as well as those from professions deemed ‘essential’ during the COVID-19 pandemic. Paradoxically these people are becoming increasingly vulnerable to homelessness.

We will advocate for Kiama Council to work with neighbouring Councils, relevant NSW Government departments, non-government organisations, and local developers to provide appropriate well designed and well-constructed social housing for those in need within our community.

We will call for Council to engage directly with Kiama community members to determine the extent of affordable housing needs. We will investigate how Council land could be used to provide emergency accommodation for the homeless and to address housing stress more broadly. For example, could the old Blue Haven aged care facility have been used to provide temporary relief for people who have become homeless or for those experiencing housing stress?

Warren Steel, No Political Parties

I don’t think Kiama will ever be an affordable housing area. It would be lovely to have your kids living in Kiama, but I don’t think there is any way possible for Council to adopt that policy.

Anyway, do you want that kind of housing next to your house? 99% of the people who live here would agree with me.

Mark Croxford, Your Community Candidates

One of the things that affordable housing has the potential to do is strengthen family cohesion as well as provide homes for essential workers and older people on low means.

In our policy position we have identified Bombo Quarry as a place for potential affordable housing. This current Council has failed to push this important agenda to ensure sustainable growth and job opportunities.

We need to understand there is a clear distinction between affordable and social housing. I look forward to attending the Housing Trust seminar to learn more about the levers Council can use.

But ultimately, it’s a matter of prioritising affordable housing in the context of where Council’s finances stand. That will have a big influence on what Council can and cannot do. In order for council to acquire or convert land to do a deal with a community housing provider, there has to be money available to conduct the transaction.

Imogen Draisma, Labor

Tackling housing affordability is a core Labor issue and the Labor for Kiama team believes local government has a key role to play in making that happen to maintain the vibrancy and diversity of our community and ensure our frontline/essential workers, older residents and young families can afford to live in the area.

Our team will push to have affordable housing targets introduced into Kiama Council's housing strategy - currently, there are no targets like these in the draft plan.  

We note Council owns several parcels of land that will open up for housing development over the coming years, and a Labor team will push for equitable access to home ownership/affordable renting by partnering with developers who offer innovative solutions to permanent housing affordability, as well as State and Federal Government bodies looking to keep those who can't afford a million-dollar mortgage in regional towns like ours. 

Matt Brown, We Love Kiama Gerringong Jamberoo

So many times I have asked for an affordable housing strategy as part of our Development Approval process. Each time, there has been no appetite from the other Councillors. In fact, some of them did not know what that meant.

When I was the Member of Parliament and introduced affordable housing in Belinda St, Gerringong, there were protests in the street. People said the building would be poorly constructed and a slum. I gave a guarantee that the building would be well built and would have decent locals in it. What has time told the community?

We know that the cost of housing in the Kiama area is becoming a joke. We can do many things to address this. One lever is to let developers build homes for our essential workers so they can rent a place and live in the community they work in. I am all for that. As a former Minister for Housing who brought in many of these initiatives, I know how to do this sensibly.  

Neil Reilly, Team Reilly

My time on the board of the Illawarra Housing Trust from 2008 showed me you could be creative. Affordable housing doesn’t have to destroy any of the amenity or values of the existing area.

It can extend the role of Council. As we have an aged care property portfolio, probably larger than any other council in Australia, we can do the same with affordable housing.

Council has a lot of land resources in the centre of town. We could, without too much trouble, put some of these spaces on the market or enter Public Private Partnerships with them, where we could have the developer build but the Council control the rental or the sale of some of the development.

We could create a residential development peppered throughout with affordable housing, emergency housing and places that were build-to-rent. Say Havilah Place near the Leisure Centre in the decommissioned Blue Haven space. Or we could move council chambers slightly out of town and develop this site as residential with an amalgamation of housing and accommodation types.

I will also advocate for the Bombo Quarry to be fast-tracked.