Landcom on Thursday announced the official opening of the Harts Landing affordable housing project at its Thornton development at Penrith, west of Sydney.
The project is a collaboration between Evolve Housing and Payce for 268 apartments with half – 134 apartments – earmarked as affordable, including 10 for Aboriginal housing and some to cater for people with disabilities.
The site is former Department of Defence land bought by Landcom in 2011, with a provision that part of the site would be used for affordable housing.
Landcom chief executive John Brogden said the Harts Landing project was a landmark affordable housing project that brought together private and not-for-profit sectors, setting the standard for future developments of this kind.
Mr Brogden said housing affordability and housing supply were serious issues for Sydney, which needed at least 725,000 new homes to accommodate an additional 1.7 million people by 2036.
“Landcom has been given a new mandate from the NSW Government – to take a lead role in improving the supply, diversity and affordability of new housing in Sydney and NSW, underpinned by industry-leading sustainability principles,” Mr Brogden said.
“A key commitment of Landcom’s Housing Affordability and Diversity Policy is that 5 to 10 per cent of new homes in our developments will be set aside as Affordable Housing.
“Landcom is meeting this commitment by working with government agencies, the private sector and not-for-profit organisations to deliver a range of housing types that are sustainable, innovative and attractive places to live at various price points across Sydney.
“The Thornton development and the Harts Landing project are great examples of Landcom increasing supply, and providing diverse and Affordable Housing with other organisations, and we want to continue these sorts of partnerships.”