The Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA WA) has welcomed today’s announcement by the State Government that ‘lazy land’ will be made available to develop mixed use tenure housing developments to address WA’s looming land supply shortage.
The Minister for Housing; Lands and Minister for Planning are calling for Registrations of Interest to develop mixed tenure housing developments on government land.
According to UDIA WA CEO Tanya Steinbeck, this is a critical element of addressing concerns around short- and medium-term housing supply that UDIA has been highlighting, particularly since the beginning of the pandemic and housing stimulus measures boosted demand significantly.
“We congratulate the McGowan Government for undertaking a detailed review of their landholdings to determine what land can be offered to the private and not for profit sectors to deliver housing choice in partnership with the government,” Ms Steinbeck said.
“Ensuring the delivery of adequate housing supply across the continuum from social housing through to home ownership can only be addressed in collaboration between the public, private and not-for-profit sectors,” Ms Steinbeck said.
“The identified sites align with the State Government’s intent of increasing density in key transport precincts and corridors.
“The development industry is keen to explore opportunities to deliver housing choice in these locations given the ongoing concern regarding supply into the future.”
The first tranche of the Housing Diversity Pipeline released for ROI include 12 government owned landholdings adjacent to METRONET stations and transport corridors.
Ten sites are located throughout metropolitan Perth and two located in regional WA.
While industry welcomes the move, Ms Steinbeck warns this is only the first step in addressing ongoing land and housing supply issues, given the likely constraints and ability to deliver quickly on the land that has been earmarked.
“This is a great start, but we need to ensure that strategic planning approval systems are in place to facilitate efficient and affordable housing supply to meet market demand in the medium and longer term,” Ms Steinbeck said.
UDIA has made several recommendations to the State Government that the Institute says should be implemented in conjunction with today’s commitment to releasing the ‘lazy land’.
In the “Housing our Community” report published by UDIA WA in June 2021, several recommendations were made including:
UDIA WA recommendations:
- UDIA WA to establish a detailed housing supply monitoring program – live tracking housing supply and demand.
- Introduce a strategic approach to prioritising development areas and allow proponent led solutions to deliver housing supply:
- Remove the pseudo urban growth boundary that exists under the Frameworks.
- Introduce Priority Development Areas within the Sub-Regional Framework.
- Establish a State Government Growth Areas Team supported by a Housing Supply Advisory Group.
“UDIA WA looks forward to working collaboratively with the State Government moving forward on addressing housing supply in Western Australia and continuing to ensure that residents and those looking to move to the state as borders reopen can be accommodated in affordable housing that suits a range of lifestyle needs,” Ms Steinbeck said.
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Contact:
Gemma Osiejak
Executive Manager Communications & Marketing
P: 0421 506 819
E: gosiejak@udiawa.com.au