Business Sydney’s Paul Nicolaou calls for old CBD buildings to house city’s homeless

Business leaders are calling for empty buildings in Sydney’s CBD to be converted into emergency accommodation as the number of people sleeping rough skyrockets.

Business leaders are calling for empty buildings in the Sydney CBD to be converted into apartments to shelter the city’s homeless as the number of people sleeping rough skyrockets amid the cost-of-living crisis.

According to the latest data from the City of Sydney Street Count, about 346 people are sleeping rough this year in the CBD – up 23 per cent from last year and 53 per cent from the height of the covid pandemic.

The state government’s own Street Count in February found 2192 people were sleeping rough in 77 council areas across the state, up 8 per cent from the same time last year.

The alarming numbers mark the first time homelessness rates have returned to the levels seen before the covid pandemic, when numbers dropped due to the government’s snap housing plan to move rough sleepers into vacant accommodation and hostels.

Business Sydney executive director Paul Nicolaou said it was “disturbing” so many people were back on the streets when Covid measures had proven successful.

Street Counts conducted by the City of Sydney and the state government have recorded spikes in the number of rough sleepers. Picture: NewsWire/Max Mason-Hubers

“Enough is enough. The Sydney business community’s call for a solution has now grown louder as the number of people sleeping rough increases,” Mr Nicolaou said.

“The government and City of Sydney can work together and acquire an older building in the CBD and repurpose it for crisis accommodation. If societies are indeed judged by how well they look after their most vulnerable, we are clearly failing the challenge.”

Business Sydney executive director Paul Nicolaou called for a housing solution to help rough sleepers in the CBD. Picture: Supplied

Homelessness Minister Rose Jackson helps serve lunch with the Bill Crews Foundation in Ashfield. Picture: NewsWire /John Appleyard

The calls come after the state government committed $14m in March 2020 to immediately house people experiencing homelessness through the Temporary Accommodation program.

During this time, fewer than 230 people were sleeping rough in the CBD according to the City of Sydney’s Street Count data, and the government counted 1141 homeless people across the state – nearly half the number recorded this year.

Homelessness Minister Rose Jackson said although the program was successful, the funding was “never enough to meaningfully tackle homelessness or the housing crisis”.

However, she welcomed the calls to use vacant buildings, pointing to the government’s existing initiative under the $6.6bn Building Homes for NSW Fund.

“We are already converting vacant buildings into crisis accommodation through our Homelessness Innovation Fund, including a pilot in Penrith which has converted old office blocks into youth crisis accommodation, and we are looking to scale this work up,” Ms Jackson said.

“We would also welcome owners of these vacant buildings approaching the NSW government for a partnership if they’re interested in providing space to confront the housing and homelessness crisis.”

Ms Jackson said the lessons learnt from the pandemic paved the way for “record investments” in services and rebuilding public housing, including a $30m commitment in the state budget next week to build thousands more crisis beds across NSW.

A City of Sydney spokeswoman said council would do “everything in its power” to help rough sleepers, but noted that housing was not always the silver bullet.

“Ultimately, the answer is more housing, but many people with a history of sleeping rough have complex needs that require additional support that is not available in standard social housing,” the spokeswoman said.

Originally published as Business Sydney’s Paul Nicolaou calls for old CBD buildings to house city’s homeless