Work starts on 27 new affordable homes in the heart of Wollongong

The development will provide 27 new homes close to transport, hospitals and the Wollongong CBD.

Eight of the apartments will be prioritised for older women at risk of homelessness and women with children impacted by family and domestic violence.

A further 12 will be dedicated to social housing.

The Housing Trust's chief operations officer Amanda Winks said while they were "turning sod" it was not the first stage of the project.

"We started with an approved DA and that gave us a great step forward," Ms Winks said.

"Many engineers, lots of different consultants and compliance, people helping us along the way."

She the project had brought her knowledge of technical terms she had never heard of before like "transfer slabs and vertical rises".

The project was designed with the potential residents' needs at the forefront of decision-making.

"We ended up talking about the material selection and the plants that would mean the kids who ultimately live here would be able to play, explore, feel, touch and engage in the environment that they were living in.

"It is a testament to who we are and it is a testament to the Housing Trust that at the core of every single decision we make about the homes we build is focused on the people who will use it at the end of the day."

Other considerations taken into account was making the homes more energy-efficient and cost-efficient as well as taking in future considerations with features like study nooks and electric vehicle charging areas.

"We've got people now who are working from home, we've got kids who are studying, the original design didn't have that space [study nook], so we're really keen to work that in."

Member for Cunningham Alison Byrnes spoke about how well positioned the Dudley Street development was.

"This project is located near public transport, near our hospital services and is an extremely good well-located project," she said.

"We have a lot of rental stress and housing stress in our community ... it is important that our governments work with our communities to make sure that we get projects like this up."

Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully echoed these sentiments.

"It's so well located when it comes to public transport, it is well located when it comes to employment opportunities and well located when it comes to other services and amenities," he said.

"Many of us grew up at a time where we were neighbours with a teacher or paramedic or a police officer ... and that's starting to stratify a little bit.

"Housing is one of the key drivers of inequality, so we're trying to correct that through planning reforms."

Mr Scully also said the state government was working towards a situation where social and affordable housing was developed faster.

"The best time to address the housing crisis that we're in now would have been five or six years ago before it began.

"The second best time is today."

In the Wollongong LGA, 42 per cent of households are rented while the social housing waitlist is more than 2000 names long.

Also in attendance at the sod turning was Housing Trust Chair Roy Rogers, Housing Trust CEO Michele Adair, Minister for the Illawarra Ryan Park and Wollongong Deputy Mayor Tania Brown.