Waterloo Metro good for urban renewal but housing tax will lift prices

The announcement by the NSW Government that Waterloo has been chosen for a new metro station will drive urban renewal but a proposed housing tax will lift prices, says the Urban Taskforce.

“The decision to choose Waterloo over Sydney University is the right one to drive urban renewal,” Says Urban Taskforce CEO, Chris Johnson. “We are however very concerned that a contribution tax of $20,000 for each new apartment is proposed based on the Parramatta Light Rail approach. Any further taxing of new homes will be passed directly onto new purchasers.”

“The Urban Taskforce is also concerned that the NSW government will want private developers to fund the rebuilding of the 2,000 existing social housing units as part of the urban renewal of the Redfern Waterloo estate. The Government has required the private sector to fund new social housing in urban renewal developments at the Riverwood and Ivanhoe Estates and to subsidise this through new private housing. The Government’s Draft Redfern Waterloo Built Environment Plan 2 calls for a mix of private and social housing and implies that the private development can subsidise the social housing.”

“The price of new housing will go through the roof if it has to fund rail infrastructure and social housing. While the new apartment market has been booming in the last year there are signs that this is tapering off. The NSW Government must be very careful about adding too many taxes to the apartment development market as they will end up killing the goose that laid the golden egg.”

“The Urban Taskforce is very supportive of the renewal of social housing estates by building significant numbers of private housing units to help subsidise the new social housing units. Our concern at Waterloo is that the potential addition of a value capture tax similar to that proposed for the Parramatta Light Rail could add $20,000 to the cost of each new private dwelling as well as the additional cost of supporting social housing. The Government must carefully assess how much of the burden the private sector can carry to ensure urban renewal is economically viable.”

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