NSW Adds 500 Homes in Sydney’s Bonnyrigg

An extra 500 homes will be built on an 81-hectare site at the Bonnyrigg Housing estate in Sydney’s south-west.

Of the 500 dwellings, up to 150 are designated as social housing while the remaining 350 will be private homes, on-sold to cover part of the $225 million project’s delivery cost.

The New South Wales government approved the plan that would comprise the additional 500 dwellings in Bonnyrigg, 36-kilometres west of the Sydney CBD in the local government area of Fairfield.

The approved modifications to the Bonnyrigg concept plan permits an increase of 20 per cent more homes, which span a mix of one and two-bedroom apartments, approving a maximum building height of up to six-storeys.

The project modifications were put forward by the NSW Land and Housing Corporation (LAHC).

LAHC says Bonnyrigg was identified for redevelopment following 833 of its original houses, built in the late 1970s and 1980s, reached their practical use-by date.

The latest approval will see a total of 3000 new homes in the Sydney south-west suburb, this includes 900 designated for social housing.

Dwellings will range from terraces, semi, and detached homes along with medium density apartment buildings.

Plans show 13 hectares of open space and four kilometres of new paths and cycleways.

Property and housing minister Melinda Pavey said the approval forms part of the state government’s Covid-19 Recovery Plan as well as the state’s Future Directions for social housing.

The LAHC has also announced it finalised contracts with seven home builders to construct 100 new social homes across metropolitan Sydney and regional NSW as part of a Medium Density Housing Program.

The pilot program would invest approximately $26 million to build 100 new social homes.

The seven builders include Beechwood Homes, Hudson Homes, Westbury Constructions, Mavid Construction, Mars Building, Metricon Homes and Simpson Building Group.

Construction is expected to start in early 2021 on 53 of the dwellings located across areas, including, Emu Heights, Marayong, Padstow, Regents Park, South Penrith, St Marys, North St Marys, Quakers Hill, Casino, Singleton Heights, South Grafton, Wauchope and Griffith.

While an $812 million allocation for social housing was included in the state's budget, analysis by Equity Economics anticipates housing stress in NSW to increase by 41.9 per cent next year, in part as a result of the economic hit on families from the pandemic.

The analysis also predicts homelessness will rise in the state by 19.1 per cent.

Nationally, from 2015 to 2019, the number of households on the waiting list considered to be in greatest need of state public housing increased by a third to 52,644 households.

Recent research undertaken by AHURI shows that in addition to current waiting lists, over the next 20 years an estimated 727,300 additional social dwellings will be required.