Landcom's 580-home Annandale plan draws privatisation claim
Inner West Courier reports critics calling the state-backed conversion of the old WestConnex construction compound into essential-worker housing a 'privatisation scam', even as the first 220-home building has already won approval.
Annandale’s old WestConnex construction compound, in the Inner West Council area, is back in the news. Inner West Courier said in an Instagram post dated 22 September 2026 that critics are calling the state government’s conversion of the dive site into housing for essential workers “another privatisation scam.”
The site, used during WestConnex tunnelling works, was rezoned for housing and received approval for its first significant development application, City Hub reported on 7 January 2026. Landcom, the New South Wales Government’s land and property developer, is delivering the project rather than a private builder. Two further lots on the site are earmarked for separate, unnamed private developers, City Hub reported.
Why it matters
The project is one of the largest state-led conversions of surplus motorway land into housing in the Inner West, and it tests whether a government developer can turn a construction compound into the kind of secure, discounted rental housing essential workers say they cannot otherwise afford near the inner city. City Hub reported the NSW Government will keep ownership of the build-to-rent homes rather than sell them, which is the detail driving the “privatisation” framing Inner West Courier’s critics are pushing back against, even though the scheme keeps the build-to-rent portion in public hands rather than transferring it to a private owner.
For Annandale residents, the stakes are a large construction project on their doorstep for several years, followed by hundreds of new neighbours drawn specifically from nursing, teaching, policing and firefighting rather than the open market. The post’s caption did not name a specific critic or group, so this article does not attribute the “privatisation scam” characterisation to any individual beyond the outlet itself. The scheme sits within the wider essential-worker and build-to-rent housing pipeline tracked on our Sydney market page.
The numbers
City Hub reported the approved scheme totals about 580 new homes on the former WestConnex site. The first building, 21 storeys, carries approval for 220 build-to-rent apartments reserved for essential workers, with rents set at a discount to market rates. The remaining roughly 360 homes, by our subtraction, include homes for purchase and some affordable rentals, City Hub reported.
Eligibility for the discounted build-to-rent homes will cover workers such as nurses, teachers, police officers and firefighters, City Hub reported, with no rent figures given. No construction cost figure for the project has been reported in the coverage reviewed for this story, so none is cited here.
What’s next
City Hub reported the rezoning and first development application had “strong community and stakeholder support” when approved in early January 2026, a contrast with the “privatisation scam” framing Inner West Courier’s September post says critics are applying to the same scheme. Neither source reviewed for this story names a timeline for when construction on the 220-home building will begin or when essential workers could move in.
The next verifiable step is whichever comes first: a Landcom construction start date for the first building, or further detail from Inner West Courier on who is making the privatisation claim and why. The two private lots would bring new parties into a project that, so far, is led by the state’s own developer.