FAQs

The Strategic Principles for Affordable Housing set out Council’s expectations and goals for the delivery of affordable housing in the Shoalhaven LGA. They are developed to inform the preferred number, location, size, quality and type of dwellings to be established as Affordable Housing.

The principles will be embedded into Council’s Local Strategic Planning Statement (LSPS) – Our Shoalhaven 2040. This will ensure that they guide Council’s work in delivering affordable rental housing and improving housing affordability.

They are to assist with the following:

• Strategic Planning processes (i.e. the preparation of Council Strategies and precinct plans)
• The consideration of relevant applications for Council’s development consent and Planning Proposals (also known as rezoning applications)
• Partnerships with housing providers and developers, including planning agreements involving affordable housing
• Advocacy efforts for State and Federal funding
• Council’s asset and land management decisions

The Strategic Principles have been developed to inform Council’s contribution to delivering Affordable Housing as per Action 1.4 of Council’s Affordable Housing Strategy, 2024 (The Strategy). The Strategy has established a range of short-, medium-, and long-term actions to be implemented to assist the delivery of affordable housing.

Action 1.4 states that the development of strategic principles for affordable housing will be beneficial in acting as a source of ‘best practice’ to assist in guiding the design and delivery of affordable housing and developments. 

The Strategic Principles for Affordable Housing have been written in collaboration with Councils Affordable Housing Action Taskforce (AHAT) and are currently on exhibition. They can be accessed here. 

Affordable housing is housing delivered with the intention of being available at a lower price than the usual market pricing. It is intended to be for households at a lower income threshold, where it typically costs less than 30% of a household gross income.

Types of affordable housing range from low- to high-density development, including single or multi-bedroom units, houses, townhouses and studios.

To be eligible for affordable housing, a household income must be considered to be one of the following:

• Very low income: Less than 50% of the median income (minimum wage earners, pensioners or people on government benefits);
• Low income: Between 50% and 80% of the median income (childcare workers or cleaners etc);
• Moderate income: Between 80% and 120% of the median income (such as teachers, police or nurses starting their careers) 

(Homes NSW, 2026).

Affordable Housing is delivered to households who are classified to be very low to moderate income earners, often managed my Community Housing Providers (CHPs), households do not have to be eligible for social housing, rent is discounted or based on income and vacancies may be advertised on CHP websites or real estate websites. 

Comparatively, social housing consists of long-term housing for households in the very low-income housing bracket with significant needs, including public, community and Aboriginal housing and designated for people who can’t meet these needs. 

Those who require social housing must apply and be eligible to go on a waiting list to be housed.

The Draft Strategy aims to:

1. Define “affordable housing”, including household income benchmarks, and provide an overview of the benefits and challenges of delivering affordable housing in Shoalhaven.
2. Calculate the affordable housing needs of Shoalhaven’s very low, low, and moderate income households.
3. Protect existing affordable housing developments in Shoalhaven.
4. Identify and advocate for improved housing affordability.
5. Identify the work Council can do to increase the supply of affordable housing and diverse low-cost market housing to improve housing affordability outcomes.
6. Create a monitoring and review framework to report on the impact and effectiveness of Council’s work.

The Draft Strategy sets a range of measurable Actions over the short, medium and long term. Timeframes for these Actions are as follows:

• Short-term: to be completed within 2 years
• Medium-term: to be completed within 2-4 years
• Long-term: to be completed within4-6 years.

Final timeframes for actions will be determined on adoption of a final Strategy and will be based on Council's resourcing and community feedback about the priority of the exhibited actions. Monitoring, reporting, and reviewing of adopted timeframes will occur as part of the annual reporting process.

Council’s work implementing the 2017 Strategy has resulted in:

• Direct provision of land to a community housing provider to provide 39 new homes (as affordable rental housing). Construction is underway on this site in Coomea Street, Bomaderry.
• Negotiating the future delivery of 40 affordable homes in a significant residential development in West Culburra.
• Adjustment of local planning controls to provide opportunities for the market to deliver smaller lots and a greater diversity of dwellings at a lower cost in new residential release areas.
• A range of advocacy activities with the NSW Government about:
  1. Increasing the supply of new and renewal of existing social and affordable housing,
  2. Temporary housing opportunities and the meanwhile use of vacant land,
  3. Managing short-term rentals, and
  4. the adjustment of relevant NSW Government planning policy and legislation.

Council is also a participating member of the Illawarra-Shoalhaven Affordable Housing Roundtable and the Business Illawarra work on providing affordable housing for key workers.

Housing stress refers to households experiencing difficulties meeting their financial housing obligations. The term relates specifically to those households on very low, low, or moderate incomes who pay more than 30% of their gross household income on housing costs, such as rental payments and mortgage repayments.

In Shoalhaven, approximately 9% of all households are experiencing housing stress. This is represented as:

• 10.6% of households with a mortgage
• 32.3% of households in private rentals.

These figures are higher than the Regional NSW averages of 8.4% and 28.1%, respectively.

Affordable Housing is housing for purchase or rent for households on very low, low, or moderate incomes, while social housing (also referred to as public or community housing) is secure and affordable rental housing provided and managed by State and Federal Governments and Community Housing Providers.

Many residents in need of affordable housing earn a steady income, but still struggle to meet their housing needs. This includes younger residents looking to move out of home, key workers, people with a disability, single parents and elderly residents looking to downsize.

Affordable Housing in a broad sense is part of a wider “housing continuum” (shown below), which ranges from subsidised social housing on one end, to completely unsubsidised market housing / home ownership on the other. For some people, Affordable Housing provides a stepping stone to market housing, while for others it provides an essential safety net during challenging times.

There are several ways that Council can play a role in facilitating and developing Affordable Housing, both directly and indirectly.

Direct government delivery can include supporting the delivery of Affordable Housing through avenues such as grants and loans, utilisation of Council-owned land, and leaseback and build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) schemes. Such actions can be undertaken solely by Councils, or in partnership with key stakeholders including Community Housing Providers (CHPs), developers and government agencies.

Indirect government delivery can include setting and amending the local land use planning framework to facilitate the delivery of Affordable Housing and diverse low-cost market housing through the private development industry.

Councils also have a role in advocating for the delivery of Affordable Housing by influencing State and Federal Governments and other key stakeholders.

The NSW Government manages a state-wide regulatory framework of policy and laws for short-term rental accommodation. This includes a land use planning policy, fire safety standards, code of conduct, and register. The planning policy provides definitions for short-term rental accommodation and an exempt development approval pathway for short-term rental accommodation (Council’s development consent is not required). At present, there are very few tools available to Council to manage short-term rentals.

However, the NSW Government sought feedback in early 2024 on the current regulatory framework for short-term rental accommodation and related options to encourage the supply of long-term rental accommodation. It asked for comments on a Discussion Paper which examined:

• How well the current framework is balancing benefits to the tourism economy with the potential costs for housing availability and affordability.
• Potential policy options, including revenue measures, to encourage property investors to make homes available for long-term rental accommodation.

Council’s submission asked the NSW Government to, amongst other things:

• Consider all available measures and options including land use planning mechanisms, limits or caps on days, guests, and length of stays, area restrictions, levies, and rates.
• Support councils to test, choose, and implement measures, including identification of options, a clear framework of rules to work within, and resources.
• Implement revenue raising measures and introduce mechanisms for councils to use the funds to increase the supply of social housing and affordable rental housing and deliver and maintain tourism infrastructure.

A full copy of the submission can be viewed on Council's website. For further information on the NSW Government’s considerations, please visit the Planning NSW Website.

The Federal and State Governments hold the primary role of funding and providing services to assist people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. Council is not a housing provider and is not funded to deliver or fund housing or homelessness services. Council helps address homelessness by assisting and complementing the work of other tiers of government and the community sector, as facilitators of solutions to homelessness and crisis accommodation.

Council is working in partnership with government agencies, community organisations, and members of the community to help more people doing it tough access the support they need. This includes the Mayoral Relief Appeal, Thrive Together Donation Drive, Thrive Together Fair and Mayor’s Giving Box.

Council also led the preparation of a Community Led Plan for Homelessness. This Plan sets out focus areas, actions, desired outcomes, and resources identified through the collaborative efforts of the homelessness sector. The Plan helps direct community efforts to identified areas of concern in much need of support. The four focusses of the Plan are:

• Early intervention and collaborative support
• Community awareness and education
• Advocacy and lobbying
• Housing and accommodation.

Please visit the following webpage for more information: https://www.shoalhaven.nsw.gov.au/Community-and-culture/Community-support/Specialised-supports/People-doing-it-tough