Affordable Housing Policy

Aspirations:

Every person should have access to affordable, appropriate, safe, secure, healthy, environmentally responsible and community-oriented housing.

Affordable housing needs to be given serious and practical consideration for disadvantaged groups, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, young people and senior citizens.

Kiama Greens Recognise:

Affordable housing relates to housing for people in “housing stress”. In most cases people who will never afford to own their own home.
Affordable housing is a human right;
The housing needs of low income Australians should be met through the provision of a mix of affordable options, including community housing, public housing, shared equity with social housing providers and private rental housing;
New urban developments should be environmentally sound, public-transport friendly and facilitate community interaction;
Public participation in the development of public and community housing, (including planning and in the assessment of development proposals) is a right, and must be encouraged by planning authorities;
The housing needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be met as a matter of urgency;
In order to reduce power costs for residents of affordable housing, passive solar design must be encouraged as a building principle and new subdivision design should ensure that all lots have adequate access to sunlight for solar heating and photovoltaic arrays.
That recent releases of new housing stock in Kiama is not resolving the problems of housing stress, with even the smaller homes remaining unaffordable.

Kiama Greens will work to:

Modify Kiama’s planning instruments to incorporate affordable housing as part of all new estate development and larger urban developments.
Establish local government partnerships with community agencies (eg NGOs) to ensure rental accommodation is available for such people.
Establish mechanisms, possibly through the use of incentives, which see developers contribute to affordable housing stocks.
Encourage State Government to prioritise social housing over non-essential government spending.
Encourage State Government to continue increasing the units of subsidised affordable housing stock over the next 10 to 15 years.
Ensure that planning controls and decisions relating to quality of life, solar access and access to services and amenities are not undermined in order to provide “cheaper” housing.
Encourage housing developers to plan for good walkability and access to public transport and community venues.