Thanks for your thoughtful piece Tony with some valuable insights on the intersection of planning and housing.
Another issue is that because we now don’t build nearly enough social housing in Australia, it has to be prioritised in favour of people with multiple social disadvantages, which exacerbates Nimbyism. If we built in the quantities (and proportions ) that we did in the 1950s and 1960s when it was available to a wide section of working people and then sold at discounted rates, the nervousness that some households feel at living on close proximity to public housing would be reduced IMO.
As well as infill social housing, we should also be building social housing in every new community, again aimed at a wide section of people, say, the bottom 2 or 3 deciles. This could include shared equity arrangements so that government can capture some of the price escalation over time and reinvest it in housing.
I agree Guy. As someone who lives in a social housing estate, we all get nervous (particularly my social housing neighbours who are older and have been here for decades) when new social housing tenants move in. Perhaps that makes us NIMBYs as well? As you say, because of the lack of supply of social housing, only the most vulnerable are eligible (must be very low income + complex needs) for social housing. This often results in police call outs, fear and loathing within a few weeks of the new arrival. If there was more supply, more affordable housing and more support for those with complex needs to sustain their social housing tenancies, there would be more acceptance of social housing in our neighbourhoods.
Thanks for your thoughtful piece Tony with some valuable insights on the intersection of planning and housing.
Another issue is that because we now don’t build nearly enough social housing in Australia, it has to be prioritised in favour of people with multiple social disadvantages, which exacerbates Nimbyism. If we built in the quantities (and proportions ) that we did in the 1950s and 1960s when it was available to a wide section of working people and then sold at discounted rates, the nervousness that some households feel at living on close proximity to public housing would be reduced IMO.
As well as infill social housing, we should also be building social housing in every new community, again aimed at a wide section of people, say, the bottom 2 or 3 deciles. This could include shared equity arrangements so that government can capture some of the price escalation over time and reinvest it in housing.
I agree Guy. As someone who lives in a social housing estate, we all get nervous (particularly my social housing neighbours who are older and have been here for decades) when new social housing tenants move in. Perhaps that makes us NIMBYs as well? As you say, because of the lack of supply of social housing, only the most vulnerable are eligible (must be very low income + complex needs) for social housing. This often results in police call outs, fear and loathing within a few weeks of the new arrival. If there was more supply, more affordable housing and more support for those with complex needs to sustain their social housing tenancies, there would be more acceptance of social housing in our neighbourhoods.
Couldn’t agree more!