Improve approval mes for development applica ons

South Coast Property Specialists (Carlene Franzen) Tips #1054: Does Australia Have a Housing Shortage?

Two weeks ago, we talked about the NSW Intergenera onal Report which presents a snapshot of what our state will look like in 40 years me (2061). Two of the key findings were that the number of people per household will drop from today’s average of 2.5 people to 2.3 people and 29% of households will be single people (up from 25% today). As our popula on isn’t likely to recede this means that more and more homes are going to be required to accommodate our popula on. The Real Estate Ins tute of Australis (REIA) is now very concerned that Australia is headed for a ‘supply crunch’ if the government doesn’t intervene and they have pleaded with government to improve the na onal housing pipeline. Adrian Kelly (REIA President) has quoted that there is “a chronic shortage of housing” across states and territories and there has been a significant reduc on in transac ons (and a decline in lis ngs) in recent years. For example, over the past five years, transac ons in Victoria were reduced by 21% and in the last 12 months, lis ngs in Western Australia fell by 45%. Before the start of COVID, the REIA es mated there was a housing shor all at around 150,000 and the Na onal Housing Finance and Investment Corpora on is now forecas ng a 12% fall in project comple ons by 2022. So, what is going to happen when vaccina ons increase to a level when we start to again see an increase in interna onal migra on which is es mated to be 235,000 by 2024-25? Mr Kelly said: “The supply crunch will return in force… (and) there is no current government planning process to manage this”. He is urging the federal and state governments to work with the industry to improve supply planning. It requires “a long-term collabora ve industry-government plan”.

Mr Kelly laid out five simple steps to invoke meaningful change within the industry: 1. Reduce the cost of the development applica on process 2. Introduce rezoning reforms 3. Improve approval mes for development applica ons 4. Introduce land release programs 5. Establish a government led mechanism for reliable data on housing demand and supply. Mr Kelly is also concerned that the issue is being excessively poli cised between the state and federal governments and without improvements to supply planning on a na onal level we can expect to see increasing property prices as supply fails to keep pace with growing demand.

Further details can be found at realestatebusiness.com.au