The Australian Institute of Architects has praised the Australian, state and territory governments for increasing the National Housing Accord goal to 1.2 million dwellings, to be achieved through zoning reforms and a $3 billion incentive scheme.
The National Housing Accord goal was previously set at one million homes, a target that has now been increased by 200,000.
The Institute’s national president Stuart Tanner said the 1.2 million homes target over the next five years would be an effective boost for the overall supply of residential property.
National Cabinet agreed to a National Planning Reform Blueprint, which includes measures to promote medium- and high-density housing in well-located areas.
The federal government also committed $3 billion for the New Home Bonus, a fund that would incentivize states and territories to undertake reforms to boost housing supply and affordability for would-be buyers.
“We commend leaders for making housing a priority. If these homes are delivered within the five-year timeline, it will help our housing supply issues considerably,” Tanner said.
“We are, however, concerned about the ongoing inadequacy of social housing supply and Australia’s capacity to realistically deliver this volume of housing in the time available, given construction material and labour shortages. In addition, this housing stock should be delivered with quality and sustainability as mandatory.”
Echoing those sentiments, the Planning Institute of Australia CEO Matt Collins said that while they are pleased to see more housing being delivered they would like more clarity around specifics as planning can only regulate the location and type of housing, not the speed of delivery.
“We still need to see more detail about how each state and territory will take the blueprint’s commitments and we look forward to working with governments to ensure good planning for great places,” Collins said.
“Whilst planning can enable the right housing in the right place, planning alone can’t deliver more houses because the decision to act on planning approvals largely rests with property owners and developers. Developers and property owners make the decision to build based on a range of factors including the availability and cost of finance, taxation settings, sales rates, profitability and other market factors. It is essential that policy-makers are looking at the full range of policy reform to ensure Australia’s housing challenges are holistically addressed – that means working to address broader issues such as supply chain constraints, labour shortages and more.”
According to the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation’s State of the Nation Housing Report 2022-2023, the predicted gap between new household formation and anticipated new supply in Australia from 2023 to 2033 is expected to be 79,300 dwellings, a significant deterioration since the 2021–22 report.
The Australian rental vacancy rate is sitting slightly above 1 per cent, leading to asharp decline in the number of affordable properties. “Affordable housing shouldn’t be a luxury, it should be a necessity. The rates of housing stress and unaffordability in Australia are alarming and demand immediate attention,” Tanner said.
A member survey conducted by the Institute in 2022 found that 62 per cent of respondents considered housing affordability “absolutely critical.” As a result, the Institute has urged for a bipartisan 30-year National Housing Strategy to address social housing as a long-term commitment, instead of short-term or one-off initiatives. They say the first priority should be to provide more appropriate homes for First Nations peoples.
“This is a great opportunity to get the settings right for density and sustainability in our towns and cities, as well as addressing supply. Architects have the right skills and experience to help with these reforms. We look forward to assisting on these issues,” he said.
Source: Architecture - architectureau
