The Opposition’s plan to fast-track land release in growth areas is unlikely to significantly reduce house prices on its own, according to an RMIT housing expert.
Associate Professor Trivess Moore, of RMIT’s school of property, construction and project management, said making the houses affordable is “more complicated” than just simply releasing land.
“I think that it could lead to more affordable housing if there are a number of other factors that are also supported as well. For example, simply releasing more land when you don’t have more people to build the housing won’t necessarily deliver the housing any quicker,” he said.
“It won’t necessarily help reduce the cost of materials. It won’t necessarily result in more affordable housing overall.”
Opposition Leader Jess Wilson unveiled the first plank of the Coalition’s housing strategy on Wednesday 25 February, to fast-track the existing 27 Precinct Structure Plans (PSP), including four in the City of Casey, as the State heads into an election year.
Those growth-area PSPs would be given clear end dates to accelerate delivery.
This focus has been opposed to Labor’s housing policy, which centres on mid- and high-rise apartments in established middle suburbs near train stations and activity centres.
Professor Moore said that shifting the focus from the medium-density apartment-type development to lower-density housing would perhaps cost a little bit more contained or controlled for an individual household.
“But I think there’s been some evidence that has come in Australia over the past six to 12 months that has suggested that it’s actually going to be quite a lot more housing supply that’s required to go into the market before you see significant cost reductions in housing,” he said.
“Simply having more land to build on without being able to have more people build, reduce the cost, etcetera, is unlikely to see the cost of that housing significantly reduced.
“I think that certainly more housing is needed, and I guess we probably don’t know exactly how much more before the costs start coming down.
“It also depends on where that housing is going, because we see that there are some apartment developments around Melbourne where there are a number of unsold apartments in the building. Simply building more doesn’t necessarily translate to more people purchasing housing.”
The expert also cautioned against focusing solely on speed when it comes to approving PSPs in growth corridors such as Casey.
While some streamlining may be possible, he stressed that PSPs are designed to ensure new suburbs balance housing with infrastructure, amenity and employment land, decisions that shape communities for decades.
“We want to make sure we get the decisions right about these new suburbs, because once the design is locked in, once construction starts, it’s very hard to change things later on,” Professor Moore said.
“We’re going to be building things that are going to last 40, 50, 60 years or more. We don’t want to end up in a situation where we rapidly build a whole heap of housing, and then in ten years, we have a whole heap of issues with defects.
“We don’t want to have a situation where we’ve failed to put into practice the best design because otherwise those communities will suffer in the longer term.
“The other thing to think about is to make sure you get that amenity infrastructure in early because these communities go in with the promise of a train line or a shopping centre or a school. We see it time and time again that those things often get put in very late.”
In response to the Opposition’s policy, a State Government Spokesperson said Jess Wilson’s plan wouldn’t result in any more homes, would cut 300,000 new homes and push up the price of housing.
City of Casey mayor Stefan Koomen went on ABC radio to speak about the Opposition’s housing policy for growth areas, where he said any further growth in the outer suburbs has to come with real investment in the supporting infrastructure.
“We’re already doing the heavy lifting out in the outer suburbs. We’re building lots and lots of houses. I think the key thing is if we’re going to put more houses out in the suburbs, we need to have the supporting infrastructure,” he said.
“That’s the real challenge we’ve got at the moment…
“We’ve got waitlists for swimming lessons, huge waits on the road just to get to a train station because often people are having to travel 20 minutes by car just to get on a train without the supporting bus network.”
