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Calls for housing completions not approvals to be focus of commitments
Posted on Tuesday, September 15 2015 at 9:52 AM
The Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA) NSW has welcomed the New South Wales state Premier Mike Baird’s commitment to making infrastructure delivery and housing approvals top government priorities.
UDIA NSW chief executive Stephen
Albin says housing approvals need to be fast-tracked to keep up with demand,
and a commitment to determine most approvals within 40 days is a good start.
“The industry is highly supportive
of any initiatives that help increase residential development application turnaround
periods,” he says, but add that the Premier’s priority to deliver 50,000
development approvals per year should be based on housing completions instead.
“Housing approvals don’t necessarily
translate into completions as land can sit dormant until the landowner decides
to develop,” he says.
“What we’d really like to see is a
strong commitment to seeing homes built on the ground through boosting
completions.”
Albin says that to seriously address
housing delivery issues in NSW, the government also needs to look at combining
these commitments with action on already announced policy.
“The state government needs to continue to
work towards simplifying the planning system to remove issues such as
duplications in approvals processes.
“It also needs to extend its housing diversity
package to outside of growth areas to ensure people at all stages of their
lives, with all levels of income, can buy the homes they want.
“The Housing Acceleration Fund was
extended in the budget but we have yet to see where that money will be spent.
“By making the allocation of that
infrastructure funding a priority, the government will boost investment
confidence, and ultimately turn the supply tap on sooner in some areas,” he
concludes.
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