Millers Point: a community under the hammer

The NSW government has scrapped strict heritage rules for buyers of historic homes at Millers Point, undermining claims the public housing sell-off will revive the neglected harbourside suburb.

Sydney lord mayor Clover Moore and the National Trust have condemned the decision, which has raised fears the heritage-listed homes will not be properly restored, and left idle for years before being redeveloped or sold.

The government is selling 293 properties at Millers Point and The Rocks, evicting about 600 public housing tenants and potentially earning hundreds of millions of dollars in sales proceeds.

In 2008 under the previous Labor government, 29 Millers Point properties were sold on 99-year leases. Owners were legally obliged to carry out conservation work within two years, plus further work in the medium and long term.