Jonathan Spear’s Post

One of the policy changes that Infrastructure Victoria can make to improve housing affordability and fairness is to ask for rental property investors to pay commercial property taxes. As a business activity it seems only fair they pay business taxes. The additional taxes can be used to fund more affordable housing and social housing infrastructure.

The ALP Minns State Govt of NSW is taking steps to reduce a wide range of impediments. Today's announcement is a good step; however, in itself, it will not solve the chronic shortage of affordable apartments across Metropolitan Sydney, let alone meet the current shortage of around 25,000 inclusive quality residential grade mid-rise apartments per year required annually for the foreseeable future. Current custom construction methods are building around 10,000 apartments per year in Metropolitan Sydney over the next 3 years. A fast-track solution, the fast-to-market solution, is lacking and requires a significantly less skilled workforce on site because over 20,000 tradies left NSW last year. They, too, need affordable rental accommodation, and the State has the worst shortfall of enough availability in history. The Thrive Alliance's expertise is over 100,000 CLT major urban reference projects worldwide with Engineered wood into Cross Laminated Timber construction with great design, detailing and finishes, minimising expensive building materials waste going to landfills, which is unsustainable and making housing more expensive. The Thrive Alliance's capabilities are up to 40,000 "inclusive" quality residential grade mid-rise apartments per year for the next 5-7 years in Australia, led a proven "Placemaker" over the decades in all my previous major urban projects won at either State or Local Governments tenders with no mandatory requirements just through my initiative and sense of social responsibility setting aside between 30% to 50% for affordable housing, all these previous major urban projects have achieved above-average capital growth for decades and are tightly held. The Mayor of London requires that up to 50% of all London Council surplus land sold off suitable for residential use be set aside for affordable housing. To date, this policy has yielded over 30,000 affordable dwellings. #ThriveAlliance #AffordableHousing #CLT #SydneyHousingCrisis #fasttomarket #sustainability #inclusiveness #residentialgrade #midrise #townhouses #Harropfactor #advancedmodular #fasttrack

My initial observations on the housing targets outlined in the draft housing target for local Councils in Victoria: - State Government doubles down on Greater Geelong (139,800) and City of Melbourne (134,000) to accommodate the largest amount for new houses by 2051. - Growth area Councils (Melton, Wyndham, Casey, Hume, Whittlesea, Mitchell and Cardinia) to play a major part in accommodating Melbourne's growth with a total of 645,000 new homes, reinforcing the continued need for investment. - Apart from Greater Geelong, appears to be a limited reliance on regional cities to accommodate future growth. - Social license for some middle suburban areas will become even more important with the likes of Stonnington (83% increase), Yarra (91%), Glen Eira (96%), Boroondara (90%) all expected to experience significant change in dwelling numbers by 2051. Understanding the needs of future residents as well as the needs for existing communities has never been more important.

"Labour's affordable housing plan 'needs to be more flexible'" - a bold headline for my debut in The Times but one that resonates with my opinion on the matter. We need to deliver more high quality sustainable housing (the high quality AND sustainable part is critical) and we clearly need to deliver more affordable housing, so that it can be easily accessed by everyone, no matter their position. Setting ambitious targets is a positive start and supporting this with innovative ideas like the Grey Belt is even better. However... deliverability is key. To expect that all grey belt sites will be able to deliver 50% affordable housing, is unrealistic. What ultimately determines the number and quality of homes that might be delivered is the viability of development sites. The majority of our homes are delivered by the private sector and no developer will be able to acquire land or gain funding if sites can't be made to stack up financially. The reality is that affordable housing costs developers nearly the same to build as private housing, but it only generates a fraction of the revenue (which in turn leads to much lower land values). An inflexible 50% affordable housing requirement could easily render a huge proportion of grey belt sites unviable therefore leading to the delivery of no homes at all, either private or affordable. I wanted to support my view with accurate data, so I let Viability loose on potential Grey Belt sites in the London Green Belt to quickly and accurately assess site viability. The conclusion - dropping the affordable housing requirement to 35% resulted in an overall increase in affordable housing delivery of 44%. Let me know your thoughts! #property #propertydevelopment #development #homebuilding #land #planning #affordablehousing #thetimes

This week I spoke to Gus McCubbing at The Australian Financial Review about how planning delays are impacting upon the supply of housing in Victoria. Whilst planning is only one part of addressing the critical housing shortage, it is important to shine a light on how slow the process can be. In an environment with higher interest rates and construction inflation, delays can be the difference between projects finishing or being abandoned mid way. Tim Gurner of GURNER™ Group who was also interviewed for this piece, estimates that less than half of the 51,000 new dwellings approved in Victoria last year will actually get built. This is despite the Victorian State Government targeting 80,000 new homes a year. We need a reformed planning system that is up to the task of making good decisions, on an increasing number of medium density projects, in much quicker timeframes. #housingcrisis #missingmiddle #betterplanning

Good Afternoon LI! The article below highlights how far behind Brisbane is falling in terms of housing for it's ever-growing population. Housing is a major issue Brisbane (and Australia in general) is facing. According to the Government, Brisbane requires an additional 7,500 attached dwellings constructed each year to keep up with projected population growth. Between 2020 and 2023, we delivered less than 2,000 apartments each year. Even though we are due to expect more dwellings in 2024 (just under 3,000), we are still well and truly short of our required targets. The concerning figure is that this number is set to drop to less than 1,500 in 2025. This lack of supply will increase house prices and also result in tenants paying more in rent. This is highly concerning considering the stress that the general population is already experiencing with the cost of living crisis. Incentives need to be put into place to encourage more developers to build high density developments here in SEQ. Let me know your thoughts below. #Hays #Construction #Recruitment #CostOfLiving #Housing #Apartments

🚨Important update on Waterloo South🚨 Waterloo housing estate tenants should be receiving this letter from Homes NSW : https://lnkd.in/gGWpegBg? NSW Housing Minister, Rose Jackson has written that "The NSW Government has appointed Stockland, Link Wentworth Housing, City West Housing Pty Ltd, and Birribee Housing as the partners tasked with constructing new homes in Waterloo South." Key Details You Should Know: ✅ No Relocations This Year: The earliest expected relocations have been scheduled for 2025. ✅ Advance Notice: Affected residents will receive at least six months' notice prior to any relocation. ✅ Right to Return: All residents who are relocated are told they will have a guaranteed right to return to the area once the redevelopment is complete ✅ Tenants living in the high-rise buildings should not need to move for a few years. At this stage, the proposed redevelopment plan only impacts Waterloo South, not the entire estate.

Last week, the Victorian Government released their draft statewide housing targets. In an ambitious target, 2,001,000 additional dwellings are proposed to be constructed between now and 2051 across Metropolitan Melbourne – being almost double the number of existing dwellings currently constructed in Metropolitan Melbourne.  While the draft housing targets are a welcome announcement for the property development industry, there is no clarity on how these targets will actually be met to ensure that this housing stock is constructed within these timeframes or the preferred typology and siting of the dwellings. The Government wants local councils to 'unlock space for more homes by proposing changes to local planning rules', with the intention of giving developers 'the confidence they need to get on and build'. Gadens Partners Andrea Towson and Brihony Boan, and Lawyer Anthony Tchakerian consider what gaps needs to be filled, to ensure these targets can be achieved. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gAC_BuNp #Auslaw #Housing If you found this insight article useful and you would like to subscribe to Gadens' updates, click here: https://lnkd.in/gwqNGne

There was a big win in parliament this week for the Federal Government's Help to Buy Scheme & legislation being passed to support tax incentives for BTR developments. It's important to recognise though that our affordability & housing supply challenges need to be a multi solution approach. 'The Missing Middle: The Greatest Opportunity for Medium-Density Development’, by CoreLogic Australia & Archistar.ai lifts the lid on a huge opportunity within our capital cities. Often people identify strata high density high-res development, but medium density is potentially the greatest opportunity that exists. A few key takeaways 👇 ✅ 1.3 Million potential sites across our capital cities could provide 3 Million new dwellings. ✅ Average of 2.5 units per site ✅ 500,000 or 16% are low complexity sites ✅ 57% are within 2km of an existing train station Tim Lawless CoreLogic's research Director rightly pointed out "Importantly, this analysis isn't identifying or recommending high-rise apartments as a solution to the housing crisis. It identifies opportunities for low-rise strata units that would typically take the form of townhouses, duplexes or triplexes." Read the full article below 👇 where you can also access the full report. #housing #strataliving #residentialrealestate #capitalcities Stephen Thompson Barrie Q. Sarah Edwards Tim McKibbin Caitlin Ellis Tom Coad Eliza Owen Michael Buckland Dr. Benjamin Coorey

Exciting news from the property and housing sector! Check out the latest article on news.com.au where our Managing Director, Steve Abbott shares his insights on Australia's ambitious goal to build 1.2 million new homes within the next 5 years. Steve Abbott warns of potential challenges, highlighting that this rapid development could lead to a 'ticking time bomb' effect. His thoughtful analysis sheds light on the delicate balance between meeting housing demands and maintaining quality. Dive into Steve Abbott's expert perspective here: https://lnkd.in/g4jxd3Gb Article by Shannon Molloy #HousingMarket #RealEstate #SJA #SteveAbbott #UrbanDevelopment #AustraliaHousing #NewsUpdate #News