This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
THE Property Council of Australia has slammed a potential decision by the NSW Minns government to dilute its stage low and mid-rise housing reforms, warning such a move “would be a derogation of duty in the midst of a worsening housing crisis”.
A report in the Sydney Morning Herald yesterday suggested the government would scale back reforms allowing more medium density housing of up to six levels within 800 metres of transport hubs, a change announced late last year and which was expected to deliver 112,000 homes by July 2029.
It came as data released by the Urban Development Institute of Australia released a prediction that NSW would fall 115,000 dwellings short of is National Housing Accord target of 322,000 homes across Greater Sydney and its surrounds over the same five-year timeframe.
Property Council NSW executive director Katie Stevenson said any back step of long-anticipated stage two reforms to increase housing supply in previously restricted areas near transport hubs and town centres would call into question the Minns government’s commitment to housing delivery.
“The draft reforms promised the potential for tens of thousands of new homes across Greater Sydney, the Hunter, Central Coast, and Illawarra Shoalhaven regions, the ‘missing middle’ of housing that would make up the bulk of our progress towards the National Housing Accord target.
“Any move to water down the proposals would be a derogation of duty, a signal to industry, communities and prospective homebuyers and renters that the NSW government isn’t serious about tackling the housing crisis with the urgency it requires.”
Capacity constraints, labour shortages and soaring material costs in the construction industry are already hampering development feasibilities of projects.
The latest Council Development Assessment (DA) league tables covering the period from the beginning of July to the end of November, released on Monday, show barely half – 52% – of Greater Sydney councils are meeting expectations for processing residential DAs. At the end of July, it was 59%.
“While many councils are pulling their weight, last week the NSW Planning Minister was reported to have given some councils a deadline of around four months to speed up approvals or face sanctions – the question is: “Can we wait that long to see action to get more housing moving?”
Stevenson said industry confidence would take a hit should the government back step on plans to allow more dual occupancies, terraces, townhouses, and small apartment blocks in R2 low-density zones and mid-rise apartments of 3-6 storeys in R3 medium-density zones.
“There’s huge untapped potential for density done well in areas already zoned for low and medium density, and more diverse housing means people have more housing options at different stages of life so they can stay in their communities, close to family and friends.
“Development feasibility is already impacting housing delivery – couple this with a lack of industry confidence in the government’s commitment and we’ll see investment go elsewhere,” she said.
A recent report from CoreLogic and Archistar, identified some 1.3 million sites across the country that could deliver more than three million strata units across the capital cities at a faster clip than higher-density housing being pushed forward by state governments due to planning and construction constraitns.
