Are we pleased to see incentives for private developers to build unaffordable boarding houses removed? You betcha.
Shelter NSW has offered general support for a range of proposed government reforms to create a âdiversityâ of housing types and in particular, a new requirement that boarding houses be affordable and managed by community housing providers.
During a recent interview with SMH journalist Michael Koziol, Shelter NSW CEO, John Engeler, and former Senior Policy Officer, Ryan Harris, noted that it would be a good outcome if developers were no longer offered incentives to build âmicro apartmentsâ that were often leased for $400 a week in so-called ânew generation boarding housesâ.
â[Developers] may be upset because theyâve killed off a high yielding development category,â Ryan noted . âTo say they will no longer develop affordable housing is false; they will now be managed by community housing providers and the more we support them the more they will develop it.

Weâll have a lot more to say about this proposed Housing State Environmental Planning Policy as it will bring a lot of changes â beyond those relating to boarding houses (such as creating three development types: Build-to-Rent, StudentHousing, and Co-Living).
To read more about how the property development sector has reacted to the proposed changes, here is the SMH article.