Growing number of Australians are calling themselves YIMBYs

Australia Broadcast Center

19 hours ago

Emily Lockwood appreciates the importance of having a place to call home more than most.
As a teenager, she would stay at friends' houses, trying to stretch a sleepover into a weekend stay or longer.
"There have been times where I have slept outside and there have been so many times that I've slept on a couch or slept on the floor in someone's room," Ms Lockwood tells Compass.
Finally a family friend took her in.
While she no longer needs to worry about where she'll sleep, Ms Lockwood is deeply concerned about Sydney's desperate shortage of housing.
She's one of a growing number of Australians, often younger people renting in cities, who call themselves a YIMBY.
The movement, which stands for Yes In My Backyard, is made up of people who support greater-density housing, including multi-storey developments.
They offer a stark contrast to NIMBY — or Not In My Backyard — perspectives that have dominated the public housing debate.
"If I didn't have people to go to who did have safe, secure housing themselves, I don't know that I would be here," Ms Lockwood says.
"So how on earth could I experience that, get into safe housing now and go, 'Oh well, I don't like the look of something, I don't think it should exist?'"
Like Ms Lockwood, many of those fighting to increase density in Sydney are driven by deeply held personal beliefs.
Her partner Justin Simon is a co-founder of the Sydney YIMBY chapter. Although it wasn't officially formed until 2023, he's been campaigning for increasing housing density in his local area since 2015.
He says he has had poor rental experiences, such as a previous landlord unwilling to fix mould problems, and been frustrated by opposition to housing developments by some members of the community.
"Seeing the link between my bad housing experience and the prevention of something better being built has been significant for me," Mr Simon says.
"I feel a sense of moral obligation to build a better city for the next generation."
The YIMBY movement began in the United States where there are similar concerns about skyrocketing house prices and rents.
It was spurred on by what has become known as the "zucchini versus housing" battle.
In 2017, a woman objecting to a new housing development next door in Berkeley brought a zucchini to a council meeting, complaining that without sunlight, she would not be able to grow such vegetables.
Famously, the zucchini won and development did not go ahead.
Macquarie University research fellow Alistair Sisson says the YIMBY movement grew particularly in places like California and Boulder, Colorado, which have significant tech industries.
"They started out as grassroots organisations and quite quickly started to gain the support of tech corporations and other major donors and developed into a pretty professional outfit," Mr Sisson says.
While relatively new in Australia and without significant funding, YIMBYs are making their presence felt.
At their first official meeting, there were about a dozen people. Two years later, they have 315 members.
Members are turning up to council meetings to advocate for proposals and speak to the community to try to change the conversation about housing.
Ms Lockwood points to an initial state government plan to build 100 apartments on government-owned land near the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Camperdown.
They ran a petition asking for a 20-storey development with a 30 per cent social-housing component, gathering support among health professionals at a nursing and midwifery conference last year.
In February, the government announced a revised plan to build 500 units with at least 200 earmarked for essential workers.
Victories like these give the YIMBYs hope.
"It's really something that we've actually done. That's so many more people who are going to have a home, it's crazy," Ms Lockwood says.
"Sydney's worth fighting for. I don't want us to keep pushing people out. I'm fighting for those people and fighting for people who are here and struggling."
Critics accuse YIMBYs of helping developers increase profits and they worry about the erosion of local character.
Local resident John Matchett was concerned about the plans for the Camperdown units.
"My concern is that once the high-density housing occurs over there is just going to be the start of this whole area getting built out in an inappropriate way," Mr Matchett says.
"The low-quality, high-density housing, it's not good.
"If this becomes a model what's stopping this from becoming 30 storeys? That's what scares the crap out of me."
The poor quality of new apartment buildings is a common concern, particularly since flaws in the Opal towers and Mascot Towers led to the evacuation of residents and years of problems.
Since then, a litany of building defects were discovered in new apartments and the NSW government was forced to introduce laws to help protect buyers.
The YIMBYs are adamant they have no connections to developers. Many are motivated by their own less-than-ideal housing situation.
YIMBY Sydney member Erin Riley is missing out on precious family time after buying a house in Sydney's outer suburbs — the only place she could afford.
Forced to return to work when her daughter was six months old due to rising interest rates, Ms Riley barely sees her for three days a week due to a long commute.
"If everything goes according to plan, I'm commuting four hours a day. The days I go into the city, I see her for 10 minutes the whole day."
Melissa Neighbour is a single mother, town planner and co-founder of the Sydney YIMBYs.
She told a meeting of Hunter's Hill Council considering a master plan for Gladesville, not far from where she lived as a child, that she would like to give her son the same lifestyle she had growing up.
"So as prices keep going up, having to move is something that is constantly on my mind. It's important that this masterplan brings more homes so that maybe one day I can afford that as well."
Annette Gallard from the Hunter's Hill trust argued the proposed high-story development in Gladesville would be "out of context with the surrounding area and setting a dangerous precedent" for future development.
The masterplan allowing for two 19-storey towers passed, and while the YIMBYs would have preferred council to go even higher, it encourages them to keep fighting for more housing.
"Social justice is a massive part of what drives me," Ms Neighbour says.
Despite persistent media coverage of the housing crisis and governments at state and federal levels making it easier for developers to get approval, construction of new homes lags behind demand.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics shows we are on track to build 170,000 new houses in the year ahead, but we need closer to 250,000 according to the federal government's target.
In the March quarter, the average value of a house in Australia passed $1 million for the first time.
Alistair Sisson says YIMBYs have been successful at gaining public attention for their cause, through being active on social media and appearing in mainstream media making the case for particular developments.
"The question is going to be what actually gets built and what impact it has. We will see over the next five to 10 years."
And he warns it will take a raft of policy changes, not just increasing supply, to make housing more affordable.
"Some more homes will make a difference, but not anything like the level of difference to help people who are currently stressed due to their housing costs."
ABC economist David Taylor agrees the YIMBY message falls short.
"Demand is too strong. It does come down to investors and the willingness to change the tax rules around demand for investors through changes to negative gearing or through changes to capital gains, tax concessions," he says.
"But leading into the last election, whenever anyone touched the idea of changes to negative gearing, it was really poo-pooed."
Watch Yes In My Backyard on Compass tonight at 6:30pm on ABC TV, or stream now on iview.