Single women over the age of 55 are among those who will soon have another place to call home as Anglicare Sydney’s social and affordable housing development in Mount Druitt nears completion.
Designed to be a community, the development has three, eight-story building complexes consisting of 55 strata units,113 affordable housing units, and a single-level linked basement with 102 residential spaces, visitor car parking and various community spaces that are landscaped throughout.
Rob Burnelek, Anglicare’s General Manager of Housing said “Mount Druitt is one of nine Anglicare developments providing social and affordable housing in partnership with the NSW Government’s Social and Affordable Housing Fund.
Our philosophy is that it doesn’t matter how you’ve come to live in one of our homes, we will not only give you a house, but we will also build for you a community. That includes working to not only ensure our tenancy management services are well resourced, but it also means integrating other services Anglicare offers into the community.”
At Mount Druitt, 55 strata units have been purchased by people off the plan as affordable homes and the feedback from prospective buyers has been encouraging.
Anglicare’s selling agent, James Bell from McGrath, said there had been no resistance to the mixed-use concept and the project had been selling well since July last year.
“We were very careful and very open about the fact that the building was shared, but buyers felt comfortable and the market was very accepting,” Mr Bell recently told the Australian Financial Review.
In addition to a welcoming and community-minded philosophy, Anglicare is building connections with the local Anglican church and this development at Mount Druitt.
Anglicare’s Partnership Development Officer, Stephen Kuo, has said churches value and appreciate the partnerships and services offered by Anglicare within their parishes.
“I know the churches we partner with a look forward to welcoming new people to the neighbourhood,” Mr Kuo said.
“It’s greatly encouraging to see people who have embraced a new home thanks to some of Anglicare’s other developments. These have been a truly life-changing moment in their lives.”
With an increasing number of single, senior women being vulnerable to housing stress and homelessness, the upcoming completion of this project will be a welcome relief to many.