At our recent annual Congress, UDIA National President, Col Dutton, officially launched the Urban Development Institute of Australia’s National Policy Platform for 2024 – Supply. Support. Sustainability – three critical areas of policy that must be addressed if we have any chance of reversing the current downward housing supply spiral and getting Australia onto pathways to productivity.
“Make no mistake, we are deep in a housing crisis beset by a continuous undersupply of dwellings for almost two decades, which has eroded development ready land pipelines, housing affordability and access to home ownership,” said Col Dutton.
Right now, the development and construction sector is struggling with high costs, lack of skilled workers, inadequate development ready land supply, choked infrastructure delivery, high tax burdens and ineffective planning and approvals processes. Languishing productivity means projects take longer to complete, and environmental approvals, planning, zoning and approval processes, pre and post construction, are unforgivingly slow and complex.
All these challenges need to be addressed with meaningful and decisive action before we can turn this crisis around and that means challenging the status-quo across multiple policy fronts. We cannot afford to focus solely on changes to affordable and social housing delivery. The entire housing continuum needs to be bolstered, or Australia simply will not be able to meet the National Housing Accord targets or overcome the shortfalls,
The UDIA National 2024 Policy Platform Supply. Support. Sustainability… pathways to productivity makes recommendations across seven key policy pillars which need Government’s immediate attention.
- More Homes more quickly
- Effective Planning Systems
- Infrastructure for Liveable Communities
- Streamlined Environmental Approvals
- Level Playing Field on Climate Change
- Population for Prosperity
- Capacity and Efficiency
Government needs to focus on initiatives that remove the upfront barriers to housing delivery across the housing continuum, including the following:
More homes more Quickly:
Incentivise accelerated approvals, more housing supply & density bonuses for added floor space, height or reduced lot size to deliver more housing fast across the continuum. Reward States & Territories financially under the bonus for dwelling approvals issued on the 1.2m Accord target to support “front end” delivery, rather than waiting for builds. Unlock surplus Government land for mixed at-market and affordable housing.
Effective Planning Systems:
Incentivise streamlined planning across the continuum including halving planning times and accelerating zoning to convert undeliverable zoned land to housing faster.
“Without addressing these two thoroughly, we have no hope of building the homes for the people of Australia who are severely impacted by the current lack of supply of affordable at market, social and affordable housing. UDIA and our members feel a sense of duty to deliver new housing and communities for all Australians. Our 2024 policy platform will drive our advocacy to all levels of government throughout 2024,” said Mr Dutton.
The full report with details of each recommendation can be found at this link