Affordable Housing Forum

On 3 November 2011 the Taskforce arranged the Affordable Housing Forum to engage with a much wider stakeholder base. The aim of this event was to gather information and ideas from a diverse range of stakeholders on how to encourage the delivery of more affordable housing in the right locations across NSW.   The Forum was attended by over 200 industry stakeholders including representatives from local government, planning consultancies, community housing providers, property developers, financial industry, academia, along with Commonwealth and NSW Government agencies.   FORUM PRESENTATIONS The Forum was convened by the Department of Planning & Infrastructure and began with brief introductions from the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure and the Director General of Planning & Infrastructure. This was followed by in-depth presentations by Taskforce Chair Andrew McAnulty, Professor Peter Phibbs and Dr Nicole Gurran which covered some common issues with affordable housing delivery.   Presentation 1: Andrew McAnulty Presentation 2: Professor Peter Phibbs and Dr Nicole Gurran   WORKSHOP SESSIONS Delegates participated in a series of workshop discussions to identify initiatives to contribute to the development of a new affordable housing policy. The purpose of the three workshop themes was to review some of the issues being considered by the Taskforce to allow stakeholders to contribute to the policy formulation process that the Taskforce is working towards. Prior to commencement of the Forum, participants received a Background Paper which highlighted the following 3 themes of the workshops: • Local Affordable Housing Strategies • Mechanisms to Encourage Delivery • Affordable Housing – What is it and why do we need it? To ensure a broad range of skills and experience was represented in each workshop theme, stakeholders were mixed into different groups based on their backgrounds. 20 groups in total each covered one of the 3 workshop topics. Facilitators were assigned to each group and helped direct the discussions to cover the main theme of the workshop.  The following 3 videos provide a summary overview of some common trends and particular points highlighted from the discussions.  WORKSHOP SESSIONS Delegates participated in a series of workshop discussions to identify initiatives to contribute to the development of a new affordable housing policy. The following three workshop themes were established:    Workshop A: Local Affordable Housing Strategies summary by facilitator Tony McNamara       Workshop B: Mechanisms to Encourage Delivery summary by facilitator Sarah Hill   Workshop C: Affordable Housing – What is it and why do we need it? summary by facilitator Lacy Barron   The Minister for Planning and Infrastructure concluded the Forum’s workshops by noting the substantive discussions he witnessed in the workshops and acknowledging the need to provide access to affordable housing for everyone across Sydney and New South Wales. The workshop sessions provided an opportunity for the Taskforce to learn about what is happening on the ground in terms of the delivery of affordable housing and to test some of the emerging options for recommendations. A Department of Planning & Infrastructure observer/scribe recorded more detailed notes on all matters raised during the workshops. These notes are being considered by the Taskforce for further consideration in the development of the policy and will be made available on this website.