The NSW Government has released a new guide to support councils in undertaking their own land audits to identify vacant operational council land that could be used to deliver affordable housing projects. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Council Led Affordable Housing on Operational Land Guide <\/em>released by the Office of Local Government provides step-by-step guidance for councils on identifying and managing affordable housing sites utilising operational land \u2013 from planning through to construction and delivery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A major barrier to building more affordable housing is the high cost of acquiring well-located land. Council owned sites such as former depots or unused facilities that are well serviced and close to public transport can be ideal locations for affordable housing to support low-income households.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The guide provides detail on delivery options available to councils to release and manage operational land for affordable housing and how councils can form partnerships with entities such as government agencies and housing providers to maximise the impact of affordable housing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It also includes case studies showcasing successful affordable housing projects led by councils to meet the needs of their communities. For example, Shoalhaven City Council transformed surplus council land in Bomaderry into 39 affordable housing units, while Lismore City Council is partnering with Landcom, Homes NSW and a community housing provider to construct 56 new affordable housing units.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The NSW Government has set five-year housing completion targets for 43 local government areas in Sydney, the Illawarra-Shoalhaven, the Lower Hunter and Central Coast, and a single housing target for Regional NSW. In the draft Sydney Plan, out on exhibition at the moment, local affordable housing contribution schemes have been mandated for all councils in Sydney to increase the delivery of affordable homes within their communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This guide also supports the objectives of the National Housing Accord by encouraging councils to increase housing supply and affordability at the local level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By harnessing under-utilised operational land in partnership with the NSW Government and community housing providers, councils can make a substantial impact in addressing the state\u2019s housing crisis and deliver access to homes for people in need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The guide is available here: https:\/\/www.olg.nsw.gov.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Guide-for-Council-Led-Affordable-Housing-on-Operational-Land.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAll levels of government need to play their part to help address the housing shortage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Minns Labor Government\u2019s land audit has identified several sites that are no longer being used that can deliver thousands of new homes, with the support of this new guide, we\u2019re asking councils to do the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis builds on the work of our successful Infill Affordable Housing Scheme, the delivery of 400 build-to-rent homes for essential workers on land audit sites in Annandale and Chatswood and mandated minimum affordable housing inclusions for new developments in Transport Oriented Development areas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Minister for Local Government Ron Hoenig said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFormer council depot sites and other surplus buildings often sit on valuable land that could be better utilised for much-needed housing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis new guide provides councils as key partners in delivering housing, with the information and tools to address housing affordability in their area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAffordable housing is critical for fostering community diversity, boosting local economies and promoting long-term sustainable housing, and councils can help free up unused land to create homes for our key workers and future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Minister for Housing and Homelessness Rose Jackson said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is what solving the housing crisis looks like \u2013 it means looking at it from every angle, pulling down barriers at every turn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019re working constructively with many councils who want to build more affordable housing for their communities, but sometimes it can be hard to know where to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s where this guide comes in. We\u2019re providing the tools to help councils get more projects off the ground, doing their bit to build a future for young Australians.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The NSW Government has released a new guide to support councils in undertaking their own land audits to identify vacant operational council land that could be used to deliver affordable housing projects. The Council Led Affordable Housing on Operational Land Guide released by the Office of Local Government provides step-by-step guidance for councils on identifying and managing … Continue reading “New guide to support councils in identifying land for affordable housing”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nswnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37495"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37495\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37496,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37495\/revisions\/37496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}