The Federal Government’s announcement on the weekend of additional funding specifically designed to build more homes faster, help improve productivity, address high costs and speed up approvals so that Australians from all walks of life have the opportunity to have a place to call home.
The investment announced is focused on creating more affordable housing by boosting supply with $54 million for advanced prefabricated and modular housing, including $4.7 million in voluntary national certification process off site construction to streamline approvals, and expansion of the Help to Buy scheme for first home buyers to purchase a home with a lower deposit and a smaller mortgage.
As we are now a day away from the Federal Budget and about to head into a Federal Election, the Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA) also calls on the Government to commit $5bn to enabling Infrastructure to unlock dwellings and critical housing infrastructure.
“It is absolutely critical we unlock housing because unless enabling and other infrastructure is funded and developed and planning approval timeframes significantly reduced, none of the housing can be built,” said Col Dutton, UDIA National President.
The investment in enabling infrastructure – water, power, sewer and roads will enable industry to start applications for Government infrastructure funding to state/local government) to “front end” applications of funding critical enabling infrastructure.
Recent UDIA national research provides a comprehensive analysis of true developable land capacity and tracks the major roadblocks to new housing supply across Australia’s key housing regions, reveals that 33% of all surveyed residential land in capital cities and connected regions face enabling infrastructure constraints including transport, poles, wires, pipes and parks.
“$5bn would make a significant difference to jump-start the delivery of homes that are currently being held back through lack of state funding for infrastructure,” said Col Dutton.
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Media Enquiries:
Deanna Lane | Director, National Media & Communications | 0416 295 898 | media@udia.com.au