Sydney Lays Housing Crisis Solution at BtR’s Feet

Build-to-rent and co-living apartments could be the solution to curbing a growing number of empty investment properties across Sydney, according to the city.

The City of Sydney and North Sydney council areas have the highest level of “inactive” houses in the city’s greater region, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

To stem this tide,  the City of Sydney wants to boost floorspace for new and converted build-to-rent towers from 20 to 75 per cent, and give 20 per cent more to co-living accommodation.

Sydney lord mayor Clover Moore said the changes, aimed at tackling the housing crisis. would encourage developers to create more build-to-rent homes in central Sydney.

“As well as increasing rental stock in central Sydney, this type of accommodation has high occupancy rates,” Moore said.

“That’s great for inner-city vibrancy and avoids situations where international investors leave newly built flats empty.

“Build-to-rent housing does not sit idle with the lights out, as some high-end investor apartments do, and these developments will help revitalise and boost the local economy.

“We’ve seen build-to-rent work well overseas to help address the housing crisis, with these types of developments providing stable and secure accommodation for renters.”

▲ The City of Sydney has opened its build-to-rent changes up for comment until May 14.

The proposal to change the Local Environment Plan 2012  went on exhibition on April 15 as part of requirements for gateway determination.

The the proposed changes won Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure support on April 5.

If successful, changes to the LEP would be made in August.

The amount of additional floorspace granted would depend on the location of the site for applications made within a five years from when the planning rules were implimented.

Students in Sydney are also being impacted by the rental crisis due to a shortfall of appropriate and affordable accommodation in areas such as Haymarket, which is a key focus for co-living in the city’s proposal.

Rental vacancies in Sydney in the month to April 16 were steady at 1.1 per cent but prices hit a new high of $710 a week, the highest in the nation, according to SQM Research 

Meanwhile the share of median income for a rental property in Sydney reached 35.2 per cent, according to the Corelogic Housing Affordability Report.