The residential housing construction industry has been in a downward spiral for two years now and it’s only getting worse as the economic impacts of Covid-19 take their toll.
As such, the Sydney Business Chamber supports calls from groups including Homelessness NSW, ncoss, Shelter NSW and the Community Housing Industry for government and the private sector to invest now in building additional social and affordable housing stock across NSW, to help those without a roof over their heads and to recharge the economy.
As the report, Supporting Economic Recovery in NSW: Investment in social and affordable housing critical to supporting jobs today and families into the future.
highlights, investment in housing construction, including repairing old social housing stock as well as building new, will significantly boost employment and help find a solution to the growing numbers of homeless and rough sleepers in Greater Sydney.
The residential housing construction sector is a big employer across NSW and investment in social and affordable housing is becoming rapidly more critical due to the Covid-19 crisis, as it raises unemployment, leaving more and more people in poverty with nowhere to turn.
Investment in social and affordable housing will drive business for thousands of SMEs, generating and maintaining hundreds of thousands of construction and related jobs right across NSW.
As the report says, this rapid downturn in residential construction could cost upwards of 85,000 jobs over the next 18 months.
97,000 SMEs dependent on
residential construction are at
risk of not reopening their doors
in NSW without additional
investment.
Rising unemployment is
projected to increase
homelessness by between 7,905
and 16,140 people in NSW.
Increased homelessness is estimated
to cost between $218 million and
$445 million each year due to higher
health and social service costs.
These numbers look frightening, but they’re real and if we don’t kick-start the construction industry, they could very quickly become the worst case scenario. It’s not just the damage to the economy and jobs, it’s the social fabric of our city and its cohesiveness that will also suffer without urgent action.
As part of our commitment to solving the homelessness problem, the Sydney Business Chamber is pleased to be a member of the Good Growth Alliance, a collaborative with a commitment to growth in Sydney and NSW which benefits everyone in need of public, affordable or crisis accommodation and everyone else in the community.
The Good Growth Alliance is proudly built upon sustainable, transparent and consistent decision making.
