Housing affordability is a critical factor in attracting new employees, businesses and helping existing local business grow. Affordability is important not only for creating jobs, but also for building the region's business community which supports key services like education, parks, or even sponsoring our local sporting teams.

While the New England North West remains a great place to live, work and do business, housing availability and affordability challenges our ability to recruit and retain employees.

Changes in the staffing increases costs for local businesses including turnover and absenteeism, which is in addition to inflationary costs such as fuel, electricity, and business supplies.

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Prior to the pandemic the New England North West was trying to fill 465 vacancies, with a rental vacancy rate of 3.8 per cent for prospective new staff or locals to move into.

Now two-years later, our vacancies have sky-rocketed to 1,273 while our rental availabilities have contracted to 1.5 per cent according to the Real Estate Institute of NSW.

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Based on our investigations to date, in our view, although the planning system presents a significant barrier to the delivery in housing supply.

Solutions designed to overcome planning barriers alone will not solve the problem of housing shortages throughout NSW nor will it promote the necessary improvements in the provision of affordable housing.

Along with numerous social benefits, housing affordability supports diverse jobs and wage levels and attracts and retains workers critical to a community's long-term economic success.

The feasibility of development in regional NSW is limited by the requirement and capacity for developers to pay the contributions required for enabling infrastructure such as roads, water and sewer.

We heard during the Federal election that housing remains a top priority for residents, however successful solutions will require a coordinated all-levels-of-government approach.

With the NSW Governments budget being handed down in just over two weeks, both the business and residential community expect the Perrottet Government to take a strong leadership position to keep NSW Australia's best State to live, work and do business in.

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