In an historic decision this morning, the Land and Environment Court has ruled in favour of the protecting the boarding houses in Selwyn Street. The court rejected the appeal by a developer seeking to turn the 32 room boarding houses in Paddington into four luxury homes.

We have been backing the campaign to protect these boarding houses for over two years now and we were pleased to support this community in court today.  

This is a MASSIVE WIN for the community and Save Our Neighbours who have been unwavering in their advocacy for the residents of the boarding houses. 

The court ruled that the boarding houses should stay in operation – because re-development would result in an “unacceptable loss of affordable rental” and “contribute to the loss of affordable housing options for low-income earners in the inner-city”.

The court acknowledged the importance of these boarding houses to the local community, but more broadly the important role that traditional boarding houses play in providing housing for low-income earners in the inner-city. In acknowledging the affordable housing crisis, this case sets an important precedent for future development decisions 

While we are celebrating this historic win, this was also a hard day.  

The case has dragged on so long that the developer has already moved to close the boarding houses, and the decision has come too late for the tenants who already had to vacate their beloved community in Paddington.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

The developer has 28 days to appeal the decision.

In response to calls from the community and following a successful Greens motion on Council last term, the City of Sydney and the NSW Government have committed to jointly put up the funding to buy the boarding houses, if the developer is willing to sell. 

Now that the developer has lost their case, Council and the NSW Government need to follow through with their promises. 

Please add your name to the Save Our Neighbours petition to support the campaign. 

We also need to urgently reform the NSW laws protecting boarding houses. The developer was able to evict the tenants of the Selwyn Street boarding houses while the legal appeal was underway, because there are massive holes in the NSW laws which are supposed to protect boarding house tenants.  

More updates soon.