Innovative housing solutions sought

As part of our priority to support more people in our community to have access to housing, Wollongong City Council has opened an Expression of Interest process for the provision of affordable housing in our city.

An Expression of Interest provides the opportunity for businesses, organisations and other enterprises to put forward a plan, or tender, to Council which sets out how they might deliver services to very low through to moderate earners seeking affordable housing.

It is the third time Council has worked through an Expression of Interest for affordable housing.

The two previous successful applicants being Illawarra Community Housing Trust, better known as the Housing Trust, and not-for-profit community service organisation Head Start Homes. The Housing Trust and Head Start Homes received $4.34M and $1.3M respectively for their successful tenders.

In this third and final round Council will award the tender to one or more applicants up to a total of the available funds of $5M.

“Housing affordability is an issue that faces many in our community and it’s a challenging issue that will take all levels of government, as well as a collaborative approach from the private and public sectors, to address,’’ Wollongong City Lord Mayor Councillor Gordon Bradbery AM said.

“Where we’re able to, we want to help facilitate people having the opportunity to have access to housing. This tender is exciting as it explicitly sets out that we’re looking for innovative ideas and ways to support more affordable housing in the city and, in particular, in our southern suburbs.’’

The funding for the two organisations was provided through the Affordable Housing Program, an initiative that came about through a Commonwealth grant under the Building Better Regional Cities program to Wollongong City Council.

The open tender process will run until 26 April 2023, and applications can be submitted through the tender portal on Council's website.

“I’m pleased to see Council moving forward on our latest expression of interest process for the delivery of affordable housing,’’ Wollongong City Council General Manager Greg Doyle said.

“Our Community Strategic Plan makes it clear that our residents want Council to advocate and support access to housing in the city. This is us putting those aspirations and goals into action. What I’m really looking forward to from this process are seeing how we can harness innovative ideas that will translate into viable housing opportunities for our community.’’