Tackling the regional housing crisis together
The Housing Matters Action Group are locals working on affordable housing solutions. We need affordable, secure, accessible and environmentally responsible housing throughout the Bellingen and Nambucca Shires and right across the North Coast of NSW.
Everyone needs a safe, secure and affordable place to call home.
Waterfall Way Community Land Trust Ltd
We are excited to see the Waterfall Way Community Land Trust (WWCLT) Ltd project continue its important work into 2026! Their new website is now live with heaps of important info on their work and ways to get involved.
Supported by generous funding from the Siddle Family Foundation (SFF), the WWCLT Establishment Project is bringing to life one of Housing Matters Action Group’s longest-standing priorities: developing a community-led, permanently affordable housing model for Bellingen Shire.
The WWCLT is focused on delivering forever affordable shared homeownership for the ‘missing middle’—local people on local incomes who are priced out of the housing market.
Throughout 2025 they rolled out a community engagement campaign to introduce the Community Land Trust model across the Shire. Residents are encouraged to get involved by:
Check out their new website here.
Completing a Registration of Interest form if you’re looking for secure, affordable homeownership in the coming years
Signing up as a Friend of the WWCLT Ltd to stay informed and help build the movement
Together, we can show that communities can create their own housing solutions—by the community, for the community.
Homes for Health (HfH) is a community-led initiative helping doctors, nurses, paramedics and allied health staff find secure, affordable accommodation in Bellingen Shire.
Housing is one of the biggest barriers to recruiting and retaining healthcare workers in our region. When health workers can’t find a place to live, our whole community feels the impact.
We link healthcare workers and students with vetted local hosts and provide support throughout each arrangement.
Local homeowners can offer:
Short-term stays for students and trainees
Interim rentals for relocating workers
Longer-term housing through under-used homes
Homes for Health complements longer-term affordable housing solutions being developed by the Waterfall Way Community Land Trust Ltd.
With support from Bellingen Shire Council and the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine, we are strengthening and scaling the program through 2026.
Learn more about how the program works, our 2026 plans, and how you can get involved.
📩 info@housingmatters.org.au
📞 0494 331 821
Our community’s voice has always guided the work of the Housing Matters Action Group Inc (HMAG). Over the years, the insights you’ve shared through our local housing surveys have directly shaped our priorities and delivered tangible outcomes – proving that good data leads to real change.
When our first Needs Mapping Survey in 2018 revealed that older, single women were one of the most vulnerable groups locally – often facing housing insecurity, displacement, or homelessness – HMAG used that evidence to advocate for more affordable, secure housing for this group. That work helped pave the way for the Watson Place development, which now provides 23 units of affordable housing for women over 55 at risk of homelessness.
Jagun yaam Gumbaynggirrgundi. We acknowledge the Gumbaynggirr People as the traditional custodians of the land on which we live and work, and pay our respects to all Elders and First Peoples past, present and emerging. Always was, always will be.