Creative live and work spaces

Pictured above: Artist Billy Bain in our Darlinghurst live and work space.
Image: Robert Hookey/City of Sydney

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About this program

These grants provide professional practicing artists with affordable space to live and work in Sydney, helping them to maintain their creative practice in the city.

Leases are typically offered for up to 2 years.

Opportunities are published online and in our email newsletters.

These grants respond to key sector challenges outlined in the cultural strategy 2025–2035.

Our funding priorities

We prioritise applications that:

support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists
support artists from our priority communities
enrich Sydney’s communities and the local creative sector.

Other funding priorities may apply to specific properties when they become available.

Support available

Support is available in the form of reduced rental charges for City of Sydney properties for up to 2 years.

We may require payment of a bond as part of your lease agreement and the tenant may be responsible for utility costs.

Work spaces

We have a small number of studio and workspaces suitable for artists and creative workers to carry out projects, cultural production or arts practice.

Live and work spaces

We have a small number of residential properties in inner city locations available for use by professional practicing artists to live and work at below market rates. There are one-bedroom apartments for individuals and 3-bedroom apartments for multiple people.

Occupying a property under this program helps artists become neighbours for a set duration. This creates a unique day to day living experience by expanding artists’ networks and enabling new collaborative possibilities.

Eligibility

You must:

live in Greater Sydney
meet our general eligibility requirements
work as a professional practicing artist
be 18 years or older
be a citizen or permanent resident of Australia.

Who can apply

Sole traders can apply.

Eligible artists include:

writers
visual artists
craft practitioners
actors and directors
dancers and choreographers
musicians and singers
composers
songwriters and arrangers
community cultural development artists
Aboriginal cultural practitioners.

Applicants must:
- be an individual or legal entity, or have an auspice willing to enter into a contract with the City of Sydney
- operate in the City of Sydney local area or demonstrate significant benefits to our communities
- meet the specific eligibility criteria for the grant program you’re applying for
- comply with the City of Sydney’s ethics framework
- have an active Australian Business Number (ABN) if you’re applying as a business
- have satisfactorily completed any previous City of Sydney grants projects
- be free of any debts owed to the City of Sydney.
For the economic, social and community, creative and environmental programs, you can apply for 3 projects in total.

If you work with an auspice, we encourage you to choose an organisation relevant to your sector so they can support the development of your proposal.

We welcome applications from social enterprises, community groups and individuals. To apply, you must be a legal entity.
We don’t provide grants to applicants or projects that:
- duplicate existing services or programs
- have already occurred
- breach the City of Sydney’s ethics framework or policies
- didn’t comply with their contractual obligations for previous grants
- didn’t complete a previous grants project satisfactorily
- appear to be associated with a previous recipient or grants project that didn’t comply with their contractual obligations or complete the grants project satisfactorily
- could be perceived as benefiting a political party.
Grants can’t include:
- general donations to charities, which are covered by our support for charities policy
-  funding for operational costs or overheads for the core business of an organisation
- funding for City of Sydney fees, including development applications, outdoor venue hire, health inspection fees, health approvals, street closures and other approvals or charges beyond what is specified in the grant programs
- design, printing and distribution services or cleansing and waste services already supplied by the City of Sydney.
City of Sydney employees:
- may not apply for, or benefit from, a grant directly
- should not write letters of support for grant applications.
For environmental grants, an owners corporation can still receive funding even if one of its lot owners works for the City of Sydney. This is allowed as long as the employee:
- does not own most of the lots (not a majority owner)
- has no involvement in preparing the grant application or in the grant assessment process.

Assessment criteria

Other criteria may apply to specific properties when they become available.

Current tenants – Darlinghurst

A woman with long dark hair and glasses wearing a leopard print blouse stands indoors near a window and houseplants, with framed art on the walls.

Person with curly hair sits in a patterned armchair, smiling and holding a phone to their ear. They wear a navy shirt and leopard print pants. Books and a candle are stacked nearby.

Current tenants – Ultimo and Waterloo

A person with long hair and glasses sits at a desk, painting a design on black paper surrounded by art supplies, brushes, and colourful paints.

A person with long hair and glasses sits on the floor by a tan sofa in a modern room with colourful posters and books on a shelf in the background.

City of Sydney News

News
Making space for creativity: inside Sydney’s artist apartments
An affordable live/work spaces program is giving 6 Sydney creatives space to live, work and bring their art to life.
2 July 2025
News
Nurturing creative talent in the heart of the city
Meet the talented artists thriving in our creative live/work spaces in Darlinghurst and Waterloo.
20 June 2024