NSW housing minister prepared to fight affluent locals

A file photo of Rose Jackson
NSW minister Rose Jackson says no part of Sydney should be exempt from social and affordable homes. -AAP Image

If affluent Sydneysiders resist a push to include social housing in their communities, Rose Jackson is prepared to intervene.

The NSW housing minister says she won't run from a fight to rapidly boost affordable and social housing in Sydney's north and east.

"If people just can't get their head around living in diverse communities, then we may need to look at more interventionist approaches," Ms Jackson told ABC's Radio National on Tuesday.

No part of Sydney should be exempt from having social and affordable housing available, she added.

"This can make our places better places to live," she said.

"We know that we have to deliver the infrastructure as well. A lot of the legitimate concerns people have is the traffic's already bad, the schools are already overcrowded."

Ms Jackson urged the federal Greens to get out of the way of the Albanese government's $10 billion national housing fund, saying it would deliver 16,000 to 19,000 properties over the next few years in NSW alone.

About 58,000 families and single people are on the public and social housing waiting list in NSW, with some told they will be waiting a decade.

The NSW coalition opposition says Sydney's eastern suburbs and north shore already have "significant density" and the housing minister would be unwise to bulldoze local communities' concerns.

"We need to make sure that all housing across NSW is matched with infrastructure, whether that be in western Sydney, on the north shore or in the eastern suburbs," opposition planning and public spaces spokesman Scott Farlow said on Monday.

"There is no doubt that more houses are needed but they needed to be linked with infrastructure ... (and) preserve livable communities."

It comes as Premier Chris Minns directed his 22 ministers to identify land held by state departments that could be used for housing.

Should the land be turned into housing, a minimum of 30 per cent must be set aside for social and affordable dwellings.

But the idea appears to undermine a key pillar in the Minns government's election platform.

"If you have a public asset that is sold to a private developer, that is privatisation," Opposition Leader Mark Speakman told Sky News on Tuesday.

"Privatisation is something that Mr Minns completely ruled out (during the election campaign)."