Australia is facing a housing crisis. The strong demand for quality and affordable housing is placing pressure on Government to boost supply to meet the National Housing Accord’s target of delivering 1.2 million homes by 2029 (= A recent report titled ‘State of the Housing System 2024’ outlines several factors contributing to this crisis. Primarily:
Each of these interdependent factors require direct intervention to modify the current market conditions that are driving house affordability and supply.
Considering these challenges, local and state governments are increasingly adopting innovative approaches to expand the supply of housing, alongside reducing the immediate financial burden of home ownership to counteract the ongoing crisis. All States and Territories have agreed to an initiative known as the National Planning Reform Blueprint (NPRB). The NPRB seeks to improve housing supply and affordability throughout the planning, zoning and land release stages. Explicit measures in the blueprint include updating state, regional and local strategic plans to meet housing supply targets, promoting medium and high-density housing in specific areas near active public transport, amenities and employment, and streamlining approval pathways.
The beginning of shared agreements on planning, zoning and land release, should prime Australia as it enters a housing “supercycle”, where increasing demand for property will create a surge in construction activity. Master Builders Association anticipates the number of apartment commencements expected to triple to 75,000 in 2025-2026.
In conjunction with these initiatives, the 2025 Federal election campaigns are seeing Australia’s major political parties, proposing policies to ameliorate the housing crisis as part of their campaign platforms.
The eastern states are also enacting policies that may alleviate rising housing concerns with supply through development.
The Department of Planning, Housing, and Infrastructure has recently announced a pivotal update to the Housing SEPP focused on Transport Oriented Development (TOD). This legislation, effective May 13, 2024, under the broader Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979, aims to integrate sustainable urban development with increased access to affordable housing, ensuring future growth promotes both mobility and affordability. The government shows that they are working hard to use existing infrastructure to increase housing supply. Additionally, 11 housing proposals are to be labelled as “State Significant Developments (SSD)”, which aims to establish 6,400 homes in metropolitan and suburban locations. This is in conjunction with the recently launched Housing Delivery Authority (HDA), aims to decrease delays and refine the planning processes.
The Queensland Government has implemented several regulatory changes and planning reforms to boost housing supply throughout the state. These efforts are largely motivated by the “Homes for Queenslanders” initiative and the “Housing Availability and Affordability (Planning and Other Legislation Amendment) Act 2024” (HAAPOLA Act). The HAAPOLA act sees the amendment of the Planning Act 2016 and other legislations to improve the planning framework’s response to the challenges in housing supply.
The Victoria State Government is working on Victoria’s Housing Statement, which focuses on five areas that address housing supply and affordability in Victoria, with a goal of 800,000 homes to be built in Victoria over the next decade. As of the most recent progress update on the Housing Statement, the Victorian Government has approved 52,854 homes, with 10,000 social and affordable homes under construction or completed, and 10,000 homes being facilitated for development.
The impacts of increased housing development can be wide-ranging, depending on factors like location, scale, planning, and infrastructure. Here’s a breakdown of the main social, economic, and environmental impacts.
Positive (if well-designed):
Negative:
Positive:
Negative:
Positive:
Negative:
Property lawyers play a crucial role in facilitating smooth transactions and safeguarding buyers’ interests amid the various challenges that arise within the housing market.
Property lawyers are significantly bearing the brunt of ensuring smooth transactions and buyer interests are protected across the range of issues that arise within the housing market; complex property transactions, zoning issues, conveyancing and compliance.
With an increasing demand for redevelopment opportunities in the wake of the housing crisis, alongside the financial cost of home ownership, developers and buyers are increasingly looking for technical expertise in ways that reduce their purchasing risk and safeguard their investment. This trend may lead to a greater number of clients seeking the services of property lawyers.
As Australia confronts its housing crisis, property lawyers should be prepared to meet the potential demand for due diligence services to help home buyers navigate the changing landscape.
Lotsearch’s new Development Application (DA) Search report can form part of your toolkit to inform your clients about proposed development of a lot and the immediate surrounding area. The search brings in current and historical development applications that saves lawyers time in looking up this information on council websites. The information is crucial in highlighting potential precedents or restrictions and impacts that could positively or negatively affect the property value.
Further information about this new search can be found here.
