Congratulations to Tamara Smith on her reelection as representative of our community in parliament. So, here’s my message, yet again. Under the Affordable Housing SEPP Professor Peter Phibbs of UNSW, after studying the true affordability of SEPP housing, found it to be ‘hardly affordable for the average punter’.
Many average punters, and here in Byron Shire our councillors led by former Mayor Simon Richardson, have inadvertently voted for these rorts called affordable housing.
My emails with Mr Richardson questioned the ‘affordability’ of the Argyle Street apartments, selling for $650k at a time when free-standing homes were being sold at the same rate – I said this ‘affordable’ housing was only going to push the prices of rentals and houses up. Those so-called affordable accommodations sold at market rate, and went on to be rented out at market rate. This happened as less than the 20 per cent of stock built was being rented out at the ‘20 per cent less than the going rates’ set by the developers
This rort has outraged charities, potential renters and locals who have been impacted by the lack of off-street parking allowed for developers who are very well incentivised with tax deductions of $10k per year for each affordable accommodation built.
Now that rentals have increased by as much as 50 per cent, how on Earth can ‘20 per cent less than the going rate’ even be called fit-for-purpose for an average punter, let alone affordable? The other outrage for myself is the fact that these so-called affordable housing units are being sold off, and the fact that so little of each development is required to be ‘affordable’.
For example, councillors led by Mr Richardson voted to approve a development where just three of 42 ‘new generation boarding house’ self-contained units, were to be rented out at ‘20 per cent less than the going rate’.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
