Making a case for social and affordable housing that’s designed thoughtfully and looks good, Rose Jackson, NSW Minister for Mental Health, Housing, Homelessness, Youth, Water, and the North Coast, mentions the Nightingale project in Sydney as an example of a design that would be useful in New South Wales.

“That absolutely sticks in my mind. I love that project. I love the design. It is incredibly sympathetic to the streetscape. I think it really respects the heritage elements – the dwellings themselves are designed in a really thoughtful way.”

The project is designed for people seeking entry level housing. Despite the small size, the units are neat and there are shared communal spaces. “This is a particular form of housing that's tackling housing affordability by being on the smaller side,” she explains.

Nightingale’s building in Brunswick, Melbourne, for instance, has rooftop space, sand pits and areas for kids to hang around. “Because the apartments are small, those shared spaces are really important. I even like the exposed formwork that they used. They do it to save money, but I think it looks fantastic as well. So I love Nightingale and I want more of that in Sydney,” Jackson says.

Another housing development on Addison Road in Marrickville, Sydney, which was recently opened, is also sympathetic to the streetscape, respecting design and heritage, and has beautiful brickwork. A mixed tenure project with social, affordable and market housing, the building, according to Jackson, looks “really nice”.

“I really want to push this idea that social housing can be an addition to suburbs and streets. It doesn't have to be ugly buildings. It can be good.”

Converting commercial spaces into at-risk/ social housing

Jackson says the NSW Government has allocated $100 million specifically for this kind of innovation to house the homeless. To begin with, the government is targeting buildings that are already zoned residential – such as aged care facilities, old hotels and motels, which she describes as “low hanging fruit”.

Given the urgency of the situation, these disused buildings are being converted into various forms of crisis accommodation.

As for vacant commercial buildings, the NSW Government is working on a plan to rezone them as residential and streamline the process. Apart from the rezoning complication, Jackson says there are design challenges such as ceiling heights, access to windows and lights, fire safety, etc., which need to be addressed.

“I'm not really willing to let those issues get in the way of delivering a housing solution. But the low hanging fruit, the stuff that we're working on quickly is stuff that already meets the basic residential guidelines. We are looking to take it to the next level though.”

Supported mental health housing

“The reality is we do need more supported living for people with serious mental illness and we do have plans for that,” says Jackson.

The Habilis development in Summer Hill, just off Parramatta Road is a beautifully designed building that offers 24/7 supported accommodation for people living with chronic mental illness such as schizophrenia or other forms of psychosis. The government has also committed $20 million to support mental health housing models such as Haven – with smaller buildings and fully supported care onsite.

“It is smaller, like clustered forms of living that acknowledge that people need support. So there is care onsite, but give people a bit of dignity in their lives and a bit of their own space to make that a home for them.”

Affordable accommodation for seniors and older women at risk

Older women are the fastest growing group of people experiencing homelessness, says Jackson. The government has a huge $5.1 billion program to build more social housing, which will prioritise this cohort. Featuring studio, single and two-bedroom units, the housing will be disability accessible to support residents as they get older and develop mobility issues.

“This cohort needs permanent supported social housing. They're not going to be able to necessarily make their future in the private market, particularly if they're older. The reality is that they're priced out. And so we want to deliver a social housing outcome for them.

“It's a big job but we're determined to build thousands and thousands and thousands of social homes of which that group is a priority.”

Supported accommodation for homeless youth

“For homeless young people, we want to do a shorter, sharper intervention to get them on a path to be able to live their lives to the fullest, and do amazing things,” says Jackson.

The Foyers model of supported accommodation offers subsidised housing for young people, allowing them to study or work. These housing options are offered on NSW’s south coast as well as around the Illawarra area with more to come on the north coast.

“The $100 million that we've got for homelessness innovation can directly support those models that set young people up for success over their whole lives by intervening early, with a very targeted supported accommodation outcome.”

Nightingale image: https://www.architectureanddesign.com.au/project/nightingale-building-melbourne

To hear more about Rose Jackson’s plans to tackle homelessness in NSW, go to our recent podcast with Minister Jackson:

https://www.architectureanddesign.com.au/editorial/podcast/episode-238-nsw-minister-rose-jackson-and-her-plans-to-help-our-most-vulnerable-citizens-with-housing-affordability

Architecture & Design Team

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