Smarter housing planning that allows for more town-houses and low and mid-rise developments would help ease Australia’s housing crisis, says the national peak for the residential building industry.
“Current zoning laws are outdated and restrictive, often leaving Australians with limited choices between sprawling houses or towering apartment blocks,” said Mike Hernon – executive director, planning at the Housing Industry Association. “Gentle density bridges this gap by supporting middle-ground housing options like townhouses and small-scale apartments.”
Gentle density is about building more homes in existing suburbs – close to education, jobs, and transport, explains Hernon.
If Australia is to hit the national housing target of building 1.2 million homes over the next five years, “unblocking housing in our existing suburbs is a crucial piece of that puzzle,” said Hernon. “With Australia facing a severe shortage in housing availability and affordability, gentle density provides a balanced approach by optimising land use and introducing diverse housing options.”
HIA is calling on state and local governments to adopt forward-thinking policies “that encourage this type of development”, Hernon added.
The NSW planning minister Paul Scully agrees. Speaking this week during parliamentary question time, Scully pointed to the government’s low and mid-rise housing reforms, which came into effect on 28 February. “They are bringing back housing types that were banned in many areas. And they are bringing back housing diversity,” he said. “The homes that our reforms will allow fill the gap between high-rise apartments and greenfield development.”
The new reforms change planning controls within 800 metres, or a 10-minute walk, around 171 town centres and train stations to allow dual-occupancies, terraces, duplexes, townhouses and residential flat buildings across metropolitan Sydney, the Central Coast, Illawarra-Shoalhaven and Hunter regions.
“Over the last few decades, these types of homes have been slowly disappearing from lots of local areas because of council restrictions,” said Scully.
The government’s low and mid-rise housing policy “will fix these egregious mistakes”, said Scully. “By reintroducing housing diversity, we can help to increase housing supply and redistribute growth around well-serviced areas. We can see more homes built that suit people at all different stages of their life.”
The low and mid-rise housing reforms are expected to help deliver more than 112,000 new homes over the next five years, said Scully. “And not only will these reforms help us to reach our national housing targets, but they will also mean that we can provide more homes for the next generation.”
Addressing the government’s reforms, Local Government NSW president Phyllis Miller said its low and mid-rise planning policy needs to be backed with “proper and significant infrastructure support”.
“We’re talking about schools, libraries, sports fields and playgrounds, adequate hospitals, even the basics of road infrastructure and sewerage and water supply. Local government – as always – stands ready to work alongside the state to help address this very real housing crisis.”
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