NSW Budget: Treasurer Mookhey finds $300m for 4600 extra Landcom homes

Most of us have found $2 in between the cushions of a sofa, but Daniel Mookhey says he discovered $300m “the previous government lost behind the couch”.

Daniel Mookhey has done a deep dive behind the NSW Government couch to come up with $300 million in loose change to spend on housing.

While taking a razor to scores of programs and hiking taxes on coal, the new Treasurer also scrutinised 700 finished projects going back to 2014 to “sweep up” cash sitting idly in bank accounts and is now pumping it into a new housing fund.

“This is the equivalent of finding money the previous government lost behind the couch,” Mr Mookhey said.

The smallest amount was $17.65 remaining from $1 million given to the Central Coast Marine Discovery and Wonders of the Wreck centre at Terrigal in 2018.

“Unfortunately with rates back then we didn’t make a lot of interest,” Mr Mookhey said.

NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey has come up with $400 million in loose change to spend on housing. Picture: The Australian

There was also $5000 left over from $2.05m allocated to the giant Metro West project in 2019 and $40 remaining after building the John Hunter Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in 2016.

The 700 projects were a forgotten part of the Restart NSW fund and included some with up to $10m unspent.

The “loose change” is now part of the government’s $2.2 billion housing and infrastructure plan.

The money will go to government-owned Landcom to develop extra homes.

Rather than paying a dividend to the Treasury next financial year, Landcom will instead begin work on an additional 1400 affordable homes and 3300 that will be offered at market rates.

About 3000 of these should be ready by the end of the decade, Mr Mookhey said.

The rest will come in the 2030s.

They are on top of Landcom’s existing pipeline.

Mr Mookhey said the government would also work with the private sector to speed up planning approvals for their developments.

But Urban Taskforce CEO Tom Forrest said: “There is no new incentive in this budget for the private sector to increase housing supply. The private sector delivers over 95 per cent of ... new housing.”

Shadow Housing Minister Scott Farlow said the announcement did “not touch the sides in a housing crisis that is hurting people right now.”

The government also announced $1.5 billion for street-lighting, parks and footpaths for new housing.

However, Mr Farlow said this money came from a “great big tax” on the homes themselves.

“It’s going to make housing less affordable,” Mr Farlow said.

Shadow Housing Minister Scott Farlow attacked the budget. NCA Newswire

Social housing stock will be increased by 1500at a cost of $610m, using federal funds.

And Landcom will get $60m to deliver 100 build-to-rent homes on the South Coast and Northern Rivers, of which 20 will be subsidised.

A previously announced $224m “essential housing package” was condemned by advocates for the homeless as “crumbs”.

With a shortage of more than 220,000 dwellings, Homelessness NSW acting CEO Amy Hains described the government’s commitments as “window-dressing”.

The government said NSW “is expected to receive more than its ... share of net overseas migrants” over the next four years, with nearly 500,000 arrivals to be added to the state’s population.

Chris Minns addresses the media in regards to the housing package delivered for NSW Budget 2023/24. Picture: Christian Gilles

Premier Chris Minns on Wednesday said he wouldn’t be asking the Prime Minister to lower migration levels even as NSW struggles to house it’s current population.

“I just think the days of a New South Wales Premier jumping up and saying ‘Sydney is full’ are over,” he said, referring to Labor predecessor Bob Carr who labelled the city full in 2000.

“I mean, I don’t believe that. I think it’s important to the economy. It’s extremely important in terms of easing some inflation pressures on the economy to get some labour into the marketplace.

“But secondly, it wouldn’t matter if I did say (no)...(the) Commonwealth (is) responsible for immigration and we have to produce the housing so we’re just getting on with the job.”

The Premier, foreshadowing future moves to increase the supply of new homes built by private companies, added: “There’s one way out of this mess, and that is increasing supply”.

“The only way to ease housing prices is to ensure that we’ve got supply in the pipeline, we are committed to doing that.

“That means a bit more urban consolidation, (it means) more building on transport lines, and (the) government committing infrastructure to essential parts of metropolitan city in particular southern (Sydney) about the wastewater, public transport and road infrastructure ready to go and more importantly, it means removing some of the red tape so builders in New South Wales can get going.”