24 January 2017
It is good news that the NSW Premier, Gladys Berejiklian, has nominated housing affordability as one of her top priorities, says the Urban Taskforce.
“Premier Gladys Berejiklian has hit the ground running with her statement confirming that addressing Sydney’s housing affordability crisis is her top priority,” says Urban Taskforce CEO, Chris Johnson. “Clearly the current policies and systems will need to change to lift housing supply and put downward pressure on house prices. The Premier will need to undertake a thorough investigation of the state’s underperforming, excessively- complex planning system, which has been described by the Prime Minister as being three times slower than Queensland’s planning system.”
“The members of the Urban Taskforce who are focussed on the delivery of new housing across Sydney are finding that the NSW Government’s announcements of new housing in urban precincts and renewal corridors are getting lost in risk adverse council planning processes.”
“Many developers are still bogged down with local politics, excessive levies, reluctance from local authorities to support development and out of date planning controls, which are inconsistent with the state government’s vision for growth around transport nodes. The state government must take a stronger role in driving housing projects rather than delegating them to councils. The end product of council delays is to slow down housing supply and this drives up the cost of housing production which ultimately impacts on affordability.”
“The Premier needs to appoint a Commissioner for Housing Supply and Affordability to focus on outcomes not process. The Commissioner should report directly to the Premier and to the Greater Sydney Commission.”
“With a re-booting of the NSW Government under Premier Berejiklian, there is an opportunity to give the Greater Sydney Commission new housing supply powers and to re-think some of the restrictive zoning proposals in the District Plans that prevent new high density housing in urban centres.”
“The Urban Taskforce is keen to work proactively with the Berejiklian Government to outline areas where policy changes can lead to faster housing supply and minimise unnecessary blockages to the planning system.”