The NSW Government's Low and Mid-Rise Housing Policy will deliver 112,000 homes in well-located areas close to transport, jobs and services, with more than 13,000 homes already in the delivery pipeline.
After three years of reform to tackle the housing crisis, the last thing NSW needs is a return to policies that would reduce housing supply. This proposed policy would not only cost new homes, but cost thousands of construction jobs.
The Opposition must be upfront with the people of NSW about whether it will deliver the 112,000 homes enabled by the Low and Mid-Rise Housing Policy or abandon one of the state's key housing reforms that is fundamental to meeting our housing targets.
Any decision to scrap or weaken these reforms would mean fewer homes are built where people want and need to live - connected to transport, jobs, and services where infrastructure is already available.
At a time of record housing demand, policies that reduce, housing supply would put place further pressure on prices and rents, making it harder for families, young people, and essential workers to find a home.
The consequences would be felt most by first home buyers, young families, and key workers, who are already finding it hard to buy or rent close to where they work, study and raise a family.
While the Minns Labor Government is tackling the housing crisis by unlocking more housing choice across established suburbs, the Liberal and Nationals want to return to the planning failures that created the housing crisis in the first place.
For more than a decade, the former Liberal-National Government failed to deliver enough homes in the right locations, pushing housing further from jobs and infrastructure while allowing affordability to deteriorate. When they left office, the forecast for NSW housing growth was a mere 36,000 homes a year.
The Minns Labor Government's reforms give the next generation the opportunity to own or rent a home in the communities they grew up in, instead of being priced out of Sydney altogether.
By allowing terraces, townhouses, duplexes, and small apartment buildings in appropriate locations near transport and town centres, the reforms create the "missing middle" housing that Sydney has lacked for decades.
The Opposition's housing policy comes off the back of their attempts to legislate to outlaw more homes around train and metro stations.
Rolling back these reforms would reduce housing supply, constrain choice, and make the housing affordability challenge even worse.
Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully said:
"The choice at the next election is clear, build more homes or build bigger barriers to home ownership.
"Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane's plan is a less housing for Sydney guarantee. This is a return to the failed approach of the past, the same approach that left NSW with a forecast shortfall of 36,000 homes a year.
"You cannot solve a housing crisis by making it harder to build homes, and this is exactly what the Liberals are proposing.
"They had more than a decade to fix housing affordability and failed, and now they want to wind back the reforms that are delivering more homes.
"Once again, it appears the Liberals want planning and housing policy dictated by the likes of Rose Bay and Mosman, while communities across Western Sydney are left to deal with the consequences of a growing housing crisis. Our government believes every part of Sydney should help meet the housing challenge.
"Sydney is already the second most expensive city in the world when it comes to housing, and this latest policy is an attempt to push those prices up even further.
"We will not let home ownership become something reserved only for those who can already afford it.
"Our planning reforms are delivering a strong pipeline of homes, with more homes under construction in NSW than in any other part of the country. We are building the homes NSW needs so young people have a chance to stay in the communities they love."
