Daniel Mookhey says Sydney’s east must take more housing. Here’s why

The NSW government is laying the groundwork for a seismic shift in housing toward Sydney’s east, with Treasurer Daniel Mookhey using a major speech on Monday to point the finger at the eastern suburbs for dragging the chain on supply.

Mookhey will also present Treasury modelling showing NSW could have reduced the median Sydney apartment rent by about 5.5 per cent, or $35 a week, if the typical unit block built between 2017 and 2022 had been 10 storeys instead of seven.

Low-rise units dominate the skyline at Bondi Beach.Credit: Edwina Pickles

His address to the NSW Productivity Commission’s symposium on housing density comes as the government finalises a draft set of housing targets before Christmas which will advance Labor’s election promise of rebalancing growth away from Sydney’s sprawling west.

The Treasurer will point out Randwick, Waverley and Woollahra councils added about 7000 new dwellings in the past 10 years, while Blacktown added five times that number.

“We need well-located housing so that our children and grandchildren can continue to live and thrive in the city that we enjoy,” Mookhey will say on Monday.

“Higher density conserves space as building up rather than out can go a long way to preserving fertile agricultural land, as well as sensitive ecosystems in greenfield areas.”

Mookhey will also underline the environmental impacts of lumping development on the city’s west, noting Penrith was five degrees hotter than in the CBD and coastal regions of Sydney, while arguing increasing infill decreased the pollution from long commutes.

“By reorienting our housing supply towards well-located infill development, we can reduce our residents’ exposure to future climate risks,” he will say.

Using government research, Mookhey will highlight that the influx of residents in Sydney’s west has compounded the asymmetry of workers to jobs, with over 130,000 more workers in Greater Western Sydney taking long commutes eastwards.

Currently, about 340,000 residents from the Central River and Western Parkland cities travel into the Eastern Harbour City, compared to only 18,223 who travel from the east to the Western Parkland City.

The divide of our suburbs into three cities.

A cabinet document from earlier this year, before the Greater Cities Commission was folded into the Department of Planning and NSW’s five-year housing target was raised from 314,000 to 377,000, shows the commission was proposing a five-year dwelling target of 49,000 to 63,000 for the 19 councils in the Eastern Harbour City. The draft target for the eight councils in the Western Parkland City was 30,000 to 43,000, and for the six councils in the Central River City, 59,000 to 72,000.

The regional plan divided Sydney into three rough cities: Eastern Harbour, running from Bondi to Burwood, and Miranda to Mona Vale. The Western Parkland City takes in Liverpool, Penrith, Campbelltown and the future Aerotropolis, while the Central River City represents everything in between.

Treasurer Daniel Mookhey will address the productivity commission on Monday.Credit: Rhett Wyman

Mookhey’s speech has come as the government moves to address the state’s acute housing crisis, with Premier Chris Minns on Friday announcing off-the-shelf, medium-density developments would help accelerate approval times and the construction of housing.

On Sunday, Minns denied that greater powers given to the Building Commissioner David Chandler would inhibit the state’s ability to reach ambitious housing targets over the next five years.

“We are not going to let quantity be the enemy of quality in NSW,” the premier said. “It’s essential that we’ve got confidence in the building sector in the state.”

Set to be introduced into parliament this week, the legislation will give Chandler and NSW Building Commission inspectors the power to enter freestanding and terraced homes under construction to ensure builders are complying with the law.

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