Australia’s sprawling suburbs of single-storey homes would be transformed under a Productivity Commission plan to make the property market affordable, with three-storey developments allowed everywhere and high-rise apartment blocks built near train, tram and bus stations. Source: Sydney Morning Herald.
Declaring state and local government planning regulations a key reason for Australia having some of the most expensive homes in the world, the commission also wants the minimum size of home lots to be reduced while allowing more European-style mixed commercial and residential developments.
Commission chair Danielle Wood said regulation was the handbrake on new homes, with the time needed to save for a deposit climbing by almost 30 per cent over the past 20 years.
“When people can’t live near work or family, the economy and the community suffers. We cannot solve our housing affordability problem unless we build more homes where people want to live,” she said.
The commission has been charged by Treasurer Jim Chalmers to examine the nation’s building approval process, land use, access to infrastructure and construction methods.
The government, which in the budget committed $2 billion towards states and councils for housing-related infrastructure, is more than 100,000 properties behind its own target of building 1.25 million homes between mid-2024 and mid-2029.
Despite a slowdown in the nation’s property market since February, house prices are still at record levels of unaffordability. Median house prices in some cities are still climbing, with Perth up 87 per cent since 2020 and in Brisbane up by 92 per cent.
In its interim report, the commission said state and territory governments should allow three-storey developments on all residential land, with exceptions only for environmental factors, particular hazards or heritage listings where benefits of protection outweighed the costs.
State and council planning schemes would allow four-to nine-storey and high-rise apartments in high-demand areas with existing transport infrastructure, or where it could be quickly upgraded.
Australian mortgage debt is among the highest per person in the developed world.
In a bid to reduce construction costs, the commission recommends car-parking requirements be reduced or axed completely, especially in areas where there is evidence that off-street parking is not being used or there are high levels of public transport.
The commission’s final report is due by March next year.
FULL STORY
Three storeys everywhere: The radical plan to drive down house prices (By Shane Wright, Sydney Morning Herald)
