Is this the solution to the Mid North Coast's housing crisis?

With an influx of people moving to the Mid North Coast and a rise in rental costs and house prices, residents who have lived and worked in the region for years are being pushed out. 

The Housing Matters Action Group (HMAG) is a community-led, not-for-profit organisation focused on creating affordable housing solutions in Bellingen and Nambucca Shire.

The group has introduced a model of “forever affordable” homeownership its committee believes could help locals who are locked out of the property market.

Called the Waterfall Way Community Land Trust (WWCLT), the project aims to support the “missing middle” on the Mid North Coast – those local income earners who earn too much to qualify for social housing but not enough to buy a home or keep up with rental prices. 

The WWCLT – as well as Bellingen Shire Council – is currently looking at potential land for the first site. 

Before a decision is made, however, the WWCLT is hosting information sessions to introduce the model to the community and invite those interested to register as possible future residents.

Pay for house but not the land

The WWCLT is a Community Land Trust (CLT). This means it is a form of shared home ownership that is run by and for the community.

“The CLT model offers a practical, community-owned solution to deliver housing that remains affordable for generations to come,” Kerry Pearse, Executive Officer of Waterfall Way CLT, told the Mid North Coaster.

The CLT works by procuring low cost or no-cost land. Those eligible are then able to build homes on the land at their own expense, but do not need to pay for the land as this is owned by the trust, making it more affordable.

Those who live on the land are co-owners with the CLT. When a house is sold it is not sold at market price. The sale is organised by the trust to ensure the model of housing remains affordable and for local residents.

The house is sold for what it costs to build, plus an agreed indexation.

“That means that the land is taken off the commercial market and the homes remain affordable for people on local income forever,” Pearse said.

The very people serving the community are getting pushed out of the housing market

Housing Matters Action Group and its projects are born out of the urgent need for  affordable, secure, and accessible housing throughout the Bellingen and Nambucca Shires.

“We’re seeing people doing it really tough,” Pearse said. “We’re noticing an increase of local working people going to community service organisations for help and for food.”

Pearse said people who are renting on local wages are struggling to put food on the table or pay for their children’s schooling. The percentage of income that has to go toward rent is too great, and the gap between income earned and the price of housing is widening.

“People just can't save a deposit, pay big rent and get into the market and raise enough money from their local wage to be able to buy when they're looking at paying for a house that's 14 times their local wage,” Pearse said.

The result: people are being pushed out of the area.

Pearse said the housing crisis is pricing out the very people who keep the communities running: “most people on a local wage.”

“Some people are leaving the area because they just can't find secure homes that they can afford to live in,” Pearse said.

“These are the people who are on local wages who keep the community going all the way from teachers and nurses and people working at council to people working in the shops.”

When will we see the model in action?

Houses are a few years away but the gears of implementation have begun spinning. The WWCLT has already performed an audit in Bellingen Shire to identify suitable land.

“We are now in a discussion with Bellingen Shire Council who are considering transferring a piece of land to us as a demonstration site to show how the model works and to provide the initial round of housing,” Pearse said.

A decision on where the CLT will own land has not been made. Council and the WWCLT are currently doing a feasibility study of land in Urunga, but Pearse said the trust is looking at land “all over the shop”.

“We're commissioning an independent environmental assessment of the site and when we've got that will be having open and transparent communications with the community,” she said.

While the community-lead trust is “desperately concerned about the housing crisis and what that means for locals”, Pearse said it is driven by community interest and commitment.

“This transfer of land will only happen if it's something that the community wants.”

Introducing the model to community members

The WWCLT are hosting public information sessions in Dorrigo, Urunga, and Bellingen  next month to launch the trust and explain the model to the community.

The sessions are also for those interested in lodging a preliminary registration of interest as potential future residents or supporters. 

• Dorrigo CWA – Sunday, June 1, 1:00 to 2:30pm. RSVP here.

• Urunga School of Arts Hall – Tuesday, June 3, 5:30 to 7:00 PM. RSVP here.

• Bellingen Memorial Hall – Thursday, June 5, 5:30–7:00 PM. RSVP here

Visit https://housingmatters.org.au/waterfall-way-community-land-trust/ for more information.

Thumbnail image: Unsplash/ Rogerio Junior