Sandra and Sandra nearly didn’t meet. Now they’re living their best life by the sea

In regular circumstances, Sandra Wojcik, who’s just moved into her fabulous off-the-plan apartment with sea views, might never have come across Sandra Biggs, who’s just about to relocate into her new social and affordable housing unit.

But today, with the completion of one of the first purpose-built mixed tenure buildings in Australia, where there’s no separation between different residential types, the two Sandras just happen to be neighbours. And they’re both delighted.

Sandra Wojcik and Sandra Biggs are neighbours in the same apartment block. Credit: Rhett Wyman

“Those social and affordable apartments in the building will be homes for people who are working hard to get ahead in life,” said Wojcik, 63, a semi-retired corporate tax accountant. “They might just need a bit of help and assistance.

“I like that concept of an opportunity of a good home to allow people the chance to live their best life. I have a very open mind about it. I don’t know how it will work out, but the concept is interesting, and I hope it plays out well.”

Biggs, 51, a part-time peer support worker in mental health, is equally thrilled to be renting a social and affordable apartment in the same block, Northsea in Wollongong, south of Sydney. For the single mother who recently lost one son, and has another with a disability, it feels like a lifesaver.

“It’s such a beautiful place,” she said. “There’s an outside common area that wraps around the building so you can sit out in the sun. It’s absolutely incredible.

“I love it that it’s mixed, too. That’s the way housing should be. It’s a great opportunity not to be marginalised and to assimilate together with no stigma. Others learn that we’re just trying to live our lives and would love to be included in the community.”

The 13-storey building was a result of a partnership between developer Traders In Purple, the State Government’s Homes NSW and community housing provider Housing Trust, with 38 apartments that sold off the plan on the private market, eight social housing units and six affordable units.

It’s one of the very first such projects with all types of residents and no segregation of entrances, lifts, lobbies and shared facilities.

Traders In Purple director Charles Daoud said the project had stacked up financially by virtue of the government’s retention of the land until construction started, avoiding large holding costs during the approval process, and the housing trust’s block pre-buy of units, at below cost.

The Northsea building in Wollongong will be home to private home owners and social and affordable housing tenants.

Daoud was keen to provide a diverse community and the partnership with the government gave everyone confidence, but he hadn’t been sure how well the idea would go down with potential buyers.

“But we’ve been pleasantly surprised by how the community has not only embraced the building, but celebrated it,” said Daoud, who’s now planning similar projects in Padstow, Villawood and Kiama. “I spoke to one private buyer yesterday who said how they welcomed the building as being a great reflection of wider society.

“The success of Northsea has now given us the confidence to roll out the model further, and we’ve inadvertently shown the rest of NSW what mixed-tenure living can look and feel like.

“With the NSW Government’s affordable housing density bonuses, this building will be the first of many to come and we’re very willing to talk to other developers about how to do this. We’ve accidently stumbled on a blueprint for the future and we hope this will be a great way of providing more much-needed housing.”

That certainly should be the way of the future, advises Nicole Gurran, professor of urban and regional planning at the University of Sydney, saying that developers should be required to provide social and affordable housing with every build-to-sell project.

“We know that people do well when they move into an egalitarian mixed society which works for everyone,” she said. “That’s very, very good for communities overall, and is the way we should be doing all our housing development.

“Good planning internationally already does this, and we shouldn’t need to rely on altruism to deliver social and affordable housing. It’s just great to see mixed projects delivered by the private for-profit sector and this is definitely the right model.”

As for the two Sandras, with different lives and life experiences, they’re happy to be in the same building.

Biggs has, in the past, ended up homeless as a result of moving to Wollongong from Sydney to help one of her sons, and now also volunteers for the charity Talk2mebro that exists to end male suicide.

Wojcik, who also moved from Sydney, consults for not-for-profit groups. “I have a very open mind about this, but I think it will go well,” she said.

Biggs agrees. “People are all the same underneath, what we do and don’t have,” she said. “I’m really looking forward to this.”