<
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/may/18/nsw-labor-eyes-vacant-offices-as-option-to-boost-social-housing-stock>
"The New South Wales government will explore converting empty offices and
unused government buildings into much-needed social housing, as commercial
building owners grapple with a surge in vacancies.
The NSW housing minister, Rose Jackson, told
Guardian Australia that
providing incentives to developers to convert surplus office space presented a
“good opportunity” for the state as it struggles with a soaring social housing
waitlist.
While buildings in Sydney’s city centre might be too expensive, smaller
commercial centres and underused government properties could be explored, the
minister said.
“Everything is on the table,” she said. “If there are opportunities to do that
in a way that aren’t unbelievably expensive, we’re keen.”
She added: “We have to make choices about how we deliver new stock and if there
was a way to do that that was cheaper than just straight-up building new
buildings, I would be very open to that.”
Australian office vacancy rates are now above 13%, representing the highest
rate since the 1990s, as flexible working including work-from-home arrangements
become entrenched.
The trend, evident in comparable nations around the world, has prompted
widespread calls for office conversions, given the empty space contrasts with
hot demand for private and social housing.
At this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos, the property sector was
encouraged to start converting empty offices to apartments to address a global
housing crisis."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
