Inner West Council has identified 10 potential carpark sites for the development of affordable housing following an audit of Council-owned land.
The Council says it will be writing to State and Federal Housing Ministers to initiate discussions about a partnership to provide new social housing at the sites.
“The aim is to bring all three levels of government together to address the housing crisis in an immediate and tangible way,” Council said in a statement.
Council staff have met with local community housing providers Bridge Housing, Link Wentworth Housing and St George Community Housing to discuss partnering models for delivering affordable housing, including feasibility and threshold dwelling yields.
The proposal to the State and Federal Governments will include maintaining title over the sites where new homes would be built, Council said. These sites include Cove Street depot on Parramatta Road in Haberfield as well as a number of council carparks across the Inner West area including in Dulwich Hill, Leichhardt, Marrickville, Petersham and Rozelle.
Inner West Mayor, Darcy Byrne said the Council was seeking to set a positive example for how Councils across Australia can help address the housing crisis.
“Inner West Council wants to show leadership on the housing crisis,” the Mayor said.
“That’s why we are asking the State and Federal Governments to work in partnership with us to build desperately needed new homes on Council owned land.”
Councillor Chloe Smith said, “We want to be part of the solution, focused on finding innovative ways to use existing Council assets to address Sydney’s affordable housing crisis.
“We have made a great start and are very hopeful that more sites will be identified by the time the completed audit comes back to Council in November.”