Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 122 New South Wales Premier, Gladys Berejiklian, has nominated housing affordability as her most important issue to tackle. She has appointed a ‘can do’ Minister for Housing and Planning in the form of Anthony Roberts but the government only has two years until the next election in March 2019. Clearly more of the same policies will not be sufficient to make a difference. New thinking is needed to increase housing supply which will help with affordability and more affordable housing must be provided. HOW UNAFFORDABLE IS SYDNEY HOUSING? Demographia in their most recent 2017 report listed Sydney as the second most expensive city for housing after Hong Kong. The average Hong Kong dwelling is 18.1 times the average household income while Sydney is the second highest at 12.2 just ahead of Vancouver at 11.8. As recently as 2004 the Sydney index was 7.6 so clearly policies over the last decade have not helped with housing affordability. The Domain House Price Report issued in December 2016 listed the average house and apartment prices in Australian capital cities. For average house prices Sydney topped the list at $1,123,991 with Melbourne more than $300,000 lower at $795,447. The average Brisbane house was half that of Sydney at $540,758. For apartments Sydney again topped the list at $711,256 with Melbourne $250,000 lower at $459,181. The average Brisbane apartment was half that of Sydney at $358,426. SYDNEY’S PLANNING SYSTEM IS ADDING COSTS TO HOUSING The planning system in New South Wales is seen as one of the slowest in Australia and the most complex. Even the Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, raised concerns about Sydney’s planning system and its impact on housing affordability. In newspaper reports on 27 December 2016, the Prime Minister indicated that Sydney’s planning approval process took three times longer than the Brisbane process. Certainly many developers across Sydney are very frustrated with the slow and complex planning process. The Urban Taskforce has submitted to the Planning Minister a list of 40 large projects caught up in the planning system that include around 40,000 potential new homes. Within the planning system are many more areas that are working against housing production and these are outlined within this Urban Ideas publication. They include excessive standards being required, restrictive zoning that prohibits housing in areas the market believes people want to live. LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN SYDNEY IS IN TRANSITION SO STATE LEADERSHIP IS REQUIRED Over the next two years Sydney councils are going through an amalgamation process with a number fighting this in the courts. It is highly likely that the councils will not be fully focussed on planning issues. Even after amalgamation and the election of new councillors it will take some time for new councillors to come up to speed on planning issues. The Urban Taskforce believes the state government should take a stronger role on housing delivery over the next two years. WE NEED A TWO YEAR HOUSING DELIVERY CAMPAIGN For the benefit of Sydney’s future generations we need an intensive campaign to drive housing delivery of market and affordable housing. This campaign should look at where blockages need to be removed in the planning system and at the roles of different levels of government. Importantly the initiatives need to have incentives to the development industry to provide affordable rental housing. If the government simply wants to tax the industry to provide affordable housing the end result could be to make many projects unviable and so less housing will be provided. Sydney’s Housing Affordability is at a crisis point and real action is needed The Urban Taskforce is keen to have responses to the proposals illustrated in this issue of URBAN IDEAS and we welcome comments to admin@urbantaskforce.com.au Chris Johnson AM Chief Executive Officer Urban Taskforce Australia Credits Cover image featuring Housing Projects caught up in Sydney's planning system "Demographia in their most recent 2017 report listed Sydney as the second most expensive city for housing after Hong Kong."