For some time housing in our area has become more expensive. As local residents, we are concerned to protect the physical character and charm of our neighbourhood, and it is also important to support the people who live in our community. Our community is made up of people on a range of incomes and various occupations, and that is a key part of the Marrickville community’s character. If all local housing becomes too expensive, Marrickville will lose many of the people who now live here.

Developers often say they want to provide affordable housing, but new developments usually knock down more cheap rentals than they provide, as new dwellings are usually more expensive. Save Marrickville supports more affordable housing, but bulldozing our heritage buildings and local character is not a good way to address our housing crisis. This is a critically important issue. Federal and State governments have the greatest opportunity to provide affordable housing. Winding back investor tax breaks that inflate house prices, investigating an empty house tax (like they have in Vancouver, Canada) and providing more social housing, would make a real difference. Inner West Council can also play a role through their Affordable Housing Revised Scheme. Save Marrickville has written a position paper on Affordable Housing, you can read it here. We have distributed our written position to numerous Councillors.