Community Engagement Summary

Affordable Housing Strategy - what you told us.

Thank you to all residents who participated in the recent Affordable Housing community survey. Overall, 230 online responses were received via Your Say Tweed.

The community survey was open for feedback from 6 March to 19 April 2024 to understand how residents of the Tweed felt about Affordable Housing. The survey focused on four key questions:

How do you feel about new social and affordable housing development potentially being integrated within your neighbourhood?
Would you accept higher density forms of housing, which is essential for financial feasibility?
Can you think of potential solutions or options to improve the supply and choice of social and affordable housing?
Have you considered what other ways may exist to support very low to low-income earners in terms of accessing housing and essential support services?

In response 80% of respondents feel social and affordable housing is somewhat to very urgent.

The top 3 key concerns respondents have about future housing within the Tweed are:

the next generation’s ability to buy/rent a house (150 respondents)
that they may have to move out of the area (67 respondents)
that they can’t/won’t be able to afford to buy a house (62 respondents)

When asked where affordable and social housing is best located responses stated:

In every village and town (115 respondents)
Only in larger communities which are well serviced - Tweed Heads, Kingscliff and Murwillumbah (81 respondents)
In emerging areas such as Cobaki, Kings Forest and Bilambil Heights (81 respondents)
52 respondents stated other.

Overall, 49.8% of respondents would be happy to live next door to an affordable housing development, while 31.6% said they would not and 18.6% were unsure.

In response to overall acceptance of more diverse housing types to be developed Tweed’s neighbourhoods to meet different housing needs 60.6% of respondents said yes, 29% said no and 10.4% were unsure.

The next stage of this project is to review all findings and analysis and develop a draft strategy for Affordable Housing in the Tweed which will be placed on public exhibition for further comment and review.