Municipal Association of Victoria’s Post

Victorian councils understand the urgent need for all levels of government to address the deepening housing crisis in Australia. Because every single Victorian deserves access to affordable and suitable housing. We acknowledge that targets, as part of a range of responses, can be a useful tool in driving the creation of new homes in our State. But the road to target-driven outcomes must be paved with collaborative planning and the recognition of local realities. Today’s news that the State Government could remove planning powers from councils that fail to meet targets is worthy of discussion, but a more constructive idea is to recognise the value of partnership and collaboration.    Local governments hold invaluable local knowledge and insights that are an essential input into effective housing strategies. As the closest tier of government to the community, councils are uniquely positioned to translate housing targets into meaningful local developments that respect and enhance the character and needs of each area. We steadfastly believe the community is best served by a shared approach, where the State Government and councils work hand-in-glove to address the housing deficit together.  Stripping councils of their planning powers is not the solution. Instead, we should focus on strengthening the capabilities of local councils to work in line with the State Government’s objectives, bolstering their role in planning decisions and ensuring there is meaningful community engagement in the process. As we move forward, the MAV is committed to this partnership model as part of an approach that champions the expertise of local governments and nurtures the cooperative spirit that has always been present when we have solved big problems like this in the past. I invite the State Government to join us in ensuring a future where the creation of new housing is not just a mandated metric, but a collaborative effort between governments to get us out of the housing mess we’ve been in for far too long. #HousingCrisis #CommunityFirst #LocalGovernment #Victoria #UrbanPlanning #Collaboration

Today the NSW Government has released new housing targets for local councils across Sydney. We stand ready to deliver those targets with responsible planning and infrastructure delivery. Sydney is in the grip of an increasing housing affordability crisis, which is making owning or renting unaffordable for many. Increasing supply, particularly around existing transport links, is necessary if we are to tackle the housing crisis. Denser cities can be the healthiest, greenest, and most stimulating places for people to live with the least environmental impact. For two decades the City of Sydney has understood this and been at the forefront of providing the highest residential densities, including Potts Point, Haymarket, Pyrmont/Ultimo and the Green Square Urban Renewal Area, which is on track to be the most densely populated community in the country. These communities are successful because development has been managed carefully, alongside commensurate infrastructure and with increased height and density allocated to appropriate sites. We are committed to providing new housing in a bid to tackle the housing crisis, and have been delivering one-third of the entire housing target set by the NSW Government for the nine councils across eastern Sydney. We have met 61% of our current target within just seven years of our current 20 year target, with over 30,000 dwellings built or in the pipeline. When I recently met with the Minister for Planning, he acknowledged what the City is already doing to increase housing in our area and agreed to work with us to achieve more in the most effective and responsible manner. Of course, the State Government will need to do its bit and increase infrastructure to meet the needs of our growing communities, including new schools, hospitals and public transport links. Today’s announcement is welcome, but we also note the Government has changed the metric for meeting targets from “developments approved” to “buildings complete”. This means meeting our target is dependent on the property sector, which is highly sensitive to economic conditions such as the availability of construction workers, materials and finance. It is clear it will take all of us doing more to address the current housing crisis. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gJ5mSJaF

Setting housing targets for local government areas would provide greater clarity about where new homes should be built, particularly for moderate-income households currently being forced to the city fringes. The targets should be combined with zoning changes to accommodate more homes, the streamlining of approvals for low-rise apartments and townhouses that met updated design standards, and infrastructure charges to apply to developments across Melbourne and not just the fringes. Reworking the infrastructure charges would help give communities the transport, open space, schools and amenity they need. The Age reports today on proposals being considered to enable delivery of more homes, including housing targets being written into local planning schemes and requiring council planners, councillors and Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal members to consider them when weighing up approving housing developments - https://lnkd.in/g25JG3tp 'Our Home Choices' from Infrastructure Victoria has extensive evidence analysis on how to shift housing demand from new suburbs to give more Victorians the choice to live close to jobs and services in our major cities- https://lnkd.in/eeaNi4rb #housing #choices #planning #Melbourne #Victoria #infrastructure #reform #evidence #research #policy Josh Gordon Kieran Rooney Royce Millar Municipal Association of Victoria Kelly Grigsby Planning Institute of Australia Property Council Victoria Housing Industry Association (HIA) UDIA Victoria Department of Transport and Planning SGS Economics and Planning Patrick Fensham Victorian Planning Authority

PLANNING REFORM: So Victorian State Govt announced housing targets for Councils are under consideration. WHY? The Govt's falling well short of its target of 80k new homes pa. Only 54k in 2023, 52k forecast for 2024 and 55k for 2025. Not even enough to meet population growth, let alone tackle the shortage! WILL IT WORK? Not Likely. While some Councils have shown NIMBY like behaviour in refusing applications, there are way more approvals than commencements. The Govt needs to tackle high construction costs-labour and materials. No sane private developer will build high scale high rise in Broadmeadows or Epping when the constructions costs are greater than the price you can sell the apartments for! And surely we all know that a broader infrastructure contribution charge just makes housing more expensive for buyers! https://lnkd.in/grUz6QsT

Hello MOSAIC users 👋. We have released an update to MOSAIC (v5.0.3) which includes a new layer to spatially visualise the new 5-year Housing Targets across 43 Local Government Areas in Greater Sydney, Central Coast, Hunter and Greater Newcastle and Illawarra-Shoalhaven. 👉 Get started with MOSAIC today meconemosaic.au 👇 Check out the post from Mecone - Urban Planning below for more information #urbanplanning #UrbanAnlaytics #MeconeMOSAIC #Digitalisation

NSW's new housing plan is bold. But will it solve the real issues? How to analyze this with 5 key insights: As someone deeply vested in property investment, I constantly evaluate market shifts and policies. The NSW government's latest housing target update is monumental but brings up crucial discussions. Here’s a snapshot of what's happening: NSW aims to build 377,000 homes in five years. $200 million in community funding for exceeding targets. Focus shifts from Western to Eastern and Northern Sydney. But beyond the numbers, let's dissect what this means: 5 Key Insights from NSW's Housing Strategy: 1. Infill vs. Greenfield: 82% of the targets are infill. Sustainable, but challenges remain in infrastructure and community services. 2. Geographic Redistribution: The move to balance housing from West to East and North aims to align living spaces closer to work and essential services. But is this feasible? 3. Infrastructure Commitment: Promises of improved infrastructure must be met to avoid past pitfalls where growth exceeded the pace of development. 4. Impact on Young Families and Workers: Affordable housing is crucial for retaining young talent and essential workers in Sydney. 5. Long-term Sustainability: Is the target of 377,000 homes realistic, given last year’s output of 48,393 homes? This plan could shape the future of NSW's urban landscape, offering both opportunities and challenges. For property investors and urban planners, this is a critical time to engage with these policies, ensuring they not only promise but also deliver. What are your thoughts on the viability of these targets? Let’s discuss how these policies could impact our investments and communities. P.S. How should NSW ensure these ambitious targets are not only met but beneficial for all?

In a bold move to address the state's housing crisis, the New South Wales (NSW) Government has unveiled plans to overhaul the housing approval process, aiming to cut red tape, speed up development, and deliver much-needed homes to the market faster. The new initiative introduces a state-led approval pathway for large-scale residential housing projects, designed to bypass local council approval and significantly reduce approval timelines. This reform, set to take effect in early 2025, is part of a broader strategy to tackle the state's ongoing housing affordability issues and ensure that housing projects get off the ground more quickly. Central to the reform is the creation of the Housing Delivery Authority (HDA), a new body within the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure. Premier Chris Minns emphasised the urgency of these reforms, noting that previous governments had made it harder to build homes, leading to a growing crisis. Read more below. Author: Joel Robinson ------------ 📣 Was this update of interest to you?🔥 Join 17,000+ of your residential property development colleagues who follow Urban on LinkedIn. We regularly post free insights about: 💡  New project launches and updates 💡  What buyers are searching for on AU’s largest off-the-plan buyer platform 💡  Weekly interviews with industry leaders Follow Urban.com.au or connect with our CEO Mike Bird 🐦⬛ to keep your finger on the pulse of the apartment and townhouse market.

The NSW Government has today announced ambitious 5-year Housing Targets, aligning with the National Housing Accord to deliver 377,000 new homes, which translates to more than 75,000 homes annually. This comprehensive plan extends across 43 Local Government Areas in Greater Sydney, Central Coast, Hunter and Greater Newcastle, Illawarra-Shoalhaven, as well as across Regional NSW. Sydney alone has a target of 263,400 homes, essentially requiring the city to double the number of homes projected in the latest Sydney Housing Supply Forecast. Such substantial targets will necessitate a significant transformation in the way NSW approaches urban planning and development assessment to enable the city to build more homes than ever before. Historically, the NSW Government monitored housing completions using net completion data based on Sydney Water connections. Now, it will use gross completion data from the ABS, which report higher figures. Mecone's analysis shows that ABS completion data was on average 22% higher than the DPHI net completion data over the 2016-2022 period, indicating a need for careful comparison between old and new targets. We can’t rely on sprawling out to new suburbs to achieve these targets. The NSW Government is targeting 82% of new homes to be infill developments – a sharp increase from the 57% share in Greater Sydney in 2022-23. This means that more medium- and high-density homes will need to be built than ever before. Making sure these new developments deliver high quality homes and communities will require thoughtful and evidence based strategic planning, ensuring growing communities have sufficient physical, social and green infrastructure. While the NSW Government plays a pivotal role in setting policy and regulatory frameworks, the responsibility of actual construction falls on industry and housing developers. However, they can’t shoulder this responsibility alone – they face the challenge of ensuring projects are economically viable, given the high costs of financing, skilled labour, materials, and land. These delivery targets will need to be matched with appropriate capacity targets. These will need to be substantially higher than the delivery targets, to ensure each LGA has sufficient zoned and serviced land to enable development and to factor in market conditions. To be successful there needs to be a continued effort made between all levels of government and the private sector to resolve structural issues in the housing industry and make these targets achievable. There’s going to be challenges along the way – and a lot of temptation to play the blame game when things get wobbly – but addressing our housing crisis requires keeping the big picture front of mind. Mecone commends the NSW Government in announcing the new housing targets. Now the hard work begins – and we’re ready to help be part of the solution. David Alsop Winston Yang Mehra Jafari Adam Coburn Ben Hendriks Georgia Sedgmen Chris Shannon Ian Cady

Local housing targets an important step to making progress on Government’s ambitious housing delivery targets according to UDIA NSW. The announcement included $200m in financial incentives for Councils to spend on public amenities such as road infrastructure or parks where they meet or exceed new housing targets. With apartment feasibilities under huge pressure, UDIA has welcomed the fact councils across greater Sydney, the Hunter, Central Coast, Illawarra and Shoalhaven have been given targets. “The NSW Government has set itself an ambitious target to deliver 377,000 new homes by 2029. UDIA has long called for council-by-council targets to help give communities and the development sector greater certainty about where new houses will be built. Public reporting against these targets is also critical to ensure transparency against delivery,” said Stuart Ayres, CEO, UDIA NSW. The announcement of financial incentives for councils is a positive step, as we know enabling infrastructure is critical to enable housing to be built. However, while the targets are important, they must focus on housing completions not just how much land has been zoned or the level of development application activity. Developers are facing some of the worst economic conditions in which to deliver housing in a generation. Crippling construction costs and increased financing costs are making it harder to bring an apartment to market at a cost purchasers can afford and financiers will fund. In fact, recent research of UDIA NSW members showed 50% of apartment projects that have development approval are unable to commence construction because they are unable to be financed. Our full Media Release can be found at this link https://lnkd.in/gN3VT49x

Great drilling down into the granular here. The graph on page 4 highlights size of build hoped for. Every picture tells a story.