‘From the Press

• Australia is investing heavily in housing, but much of the funding goes to “affordable” housing that many low-income people still can’t access. These homes are cheaper to build but often end up serving middle-income renters, with rents still too high for those in need and rules that can exclude both low- and mid-income earners. Critics say this misdirects funds away from social housing, where demand is greatest, while supporters argue a mix of housing types helps prevent broader housing stress. According to the SMH economist and Sydney YIMBY secretary Dominic Behrens, and Melbourne YIMBY organiser Ethan Gilbert, argue that funding should be fully redirected towards social housing for the homeless or those at risk of homelessness (see next article)
  Sydney Morning Herald 18/5/2026

• ‘Affordable’ housing is not the same as social housing, and it doesn’t help those most in need. Australia is spending big on this—but we shouldn’t. The government is picking up the tab for it, even when it thinks it isn’t. The NSW State Government offers approvals for up-lift builds as compensation for setting aside apartments for discounted rents, money which could have been spent better on more targeted programs and is an implicit subsidy. ‘Affordable' housing is a bad deal for tenants, and key workers. Affordable' housing means we’ve given up on solving the actual problem
  Inflection Points 16/5/2026

• Liveable Victoria launched to campaign against Labor's planning reforms.
  A statewide coalition will campaign to oppose the Victorian government's planning reforms, arguing councils and community members should have greater input.
  ABC New 4/5/2026

• Owners at 72-76 St Georges Cres have united to sell to Dare Property Group
  The Urban Developer 24/3/2026

• More than 5000 rooms are planned in these Sydney suburbs. None will count as a home.
  Sydney Morning Herald 24/3/2026

• ‘It’s Paddo, not Rio’: The cheap Sydney units being replaced by penthouses with rooftop pools
  Sydney Morning Herald 10/3/2026

• Revealed: The developer supersizing tactic rewriting Sydney’s skyline
  Sydney Morning Herald 9/3/2026

• A controversial plan to demolish 12 Mosman homes to make way for a 7-storey block with more than 100 units has sparked community concerns
  Sydney Morning Herald 25/2/2026

• A DA before Inner West Council proposes to demolish a building with 18 low-rent units and replace it with one that has 8 of 43 being affordable
  7-News 22/2/2026

• Home builders have given up on middle-income Australians, erecting thousands of million-dollar properties while leaving almost nothing for people earning less than $120,000 a year.
  Sydney Morning Herald 22/2/2026

• Former Fire and Rescue NSW commissioner Greg Mullins has blasted the state government’s record on natural disaster protections, saying the decision to develop in the flood-prone Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley and putting housing approvals ahead of people’s lives is is “lunacy”
  Sydney Morning Herald 22/2/2026

• The lure of $1.2million profit per apartment in the city’s east plus the governments laws mean that more affordable older buildings will be replaced with luxury apartments. Mayor Sarah Dixzon says “The Minns government is doing all it can to empower developers to push their profits even further off the charts in the pursuit of displacing affordability for luxury.”
  Australian Financial Review 20/2/2026

• Why more apartments are going up in Woollahra than the western suburbs
  Australian Financial Review 19/2/2026

  
  Read older news articles…Affordable' housing means we’ve given up on solving the actual problem