Unique IDFN-0002Description*** This function applies only to Sydney City Council ***
Other municipal Councils absorbed by the City did not build or administer public housing.
Public housing, constructed for the use of the working class and consisting of flats or small dwellings let at moderate rents, was a popular reformist measure in the early twentieth-century, and legislation had been passed in England and New Zealand to permit local governments to build workers' dwellings.
Following the passage of the Housing Act 1912, Council constructed several public housing projects: the Strickland Buildings (Chippendale) were completed in 1914, Ways Terrace (Pyrmont) and Dowling Street (Woolloomooloo) in 1925 and the Alexandra Dwellings (Pyrmont Bridge Road Camperdown) in 1927.
In addition to public housing developments, the Council sometimes also let housing resumed for demolition (for public housing or other purposes) but not yet actually demolished. Tenants were often the previous occupiers, and this phenomenon is not regarded as "public housing" within the scope of this Function.
Other schemes were shelved because of the expense and in order to make commercial use of the land, and construction ceased with the onset of depression during the 1930s. In 1938-1939 Council briefly considered construction of multi-storey flats in Surry Hills and demolition of existing housing on the site, considered to be sub-standard.
After the war, Council's interest in large housing redevelopment schemes revived, but the expense meant that support from the State Government would be necessary. The Government's Housing Commission was also working on large-scale high-rise housing developments, and took over Council's Surry Hills plans in 1950. The result, Northcott Place, was opened in 1961 and it signalled the effective replacement of the Council by the State as provider of public housing in the City.
Council continued to construct some housing developments, and during the late 1940s to late 1950s financed this by sales of commercial properties. Examples of Council housing constructed during this period include the multi-storey John Byrne (Glebe) and Johanna O'Dea (Camperdown) Flats.
By the 1970s Council was trying to sell its housing properties to the State Government, which would not agree to purchase them. When Council was replaced by Commissioners in 1988, the properties were handed over to the Housing Department.
Shirley Fitzgerald: Sydney 1842-1992 (Sydney, Hale & Iremonger, 1992). See esp pp228-232.
The Resolution of 22 November 1988 has appended a complete listing of the public housing properties the Council then owned, which were to be handed over to the State Government.CreationSydney Corporation (Dwelling Houses) Act 1912. Empowered Council to construct and let dwelling houses within the City boundaries and to borrow money for this purpose.
For municipalities other than the City of Sydney, authority to construct and administer public housing was conferred by the Local Government Act 1919 s496.AbolitionResolution of Council 22 November 1988. Housing stock transferred to the NSW State Government Department of Housing with effect from 31 Jan 1989. However the Council has an ongoing interest in provision of adequate low income housing in the City.
