Evidence-based research for housing abundance and land-use reform

We are writing to express our concern that the Australian Bureau of Statisticsʼ building and construction data—specifically the Building Approvals and Building Activity series—are becoming an increasingly unreliable measure of genuine private sector building activity over the short-to-medium term.

Our position is clear: the Abundant Housing Network Australia wholesale opposes the creation of a National Settlement Strategy. Such a strategy is flawed from first principles, and its proponents lack both evidence of its alleged benefits and viable methods for its implementation.

The Abundant Housing Network Australia supports the Committeeʼs move to reduce the Capital Gains Tax discount.

New findings show that metropolitan Melbourne councils approve on average less than three-quarters of permits for new dwellings.

Community consultation models used by local governments tend to favour the time-rich (property owners and older residents) over the time-poor (renters and younger residents).

In 1986, we delivered 54 homes per planner. Now, we deliver fewer than 9 homes per planner. Red tape has created a productivity crisis that more planners can't fix.

Reducing the complexity and regulatory burden in Australia's homebuilding sector can, will, and must play a foundational role in improving the dynamism and resilience of our economy.

If there is a single takeaway from our submission it should be this: that these reforms are not radical. Rather, they represent common- and best-practice in planning from around the country and the world, and work predominantly to correct the devastating consequences of previous planning interventions.

Through a focus on building in established areas, the Activity Centre Program is an opportunity to redistribute wealth and means to a greater number of Victorians.

Planning restrictions are not just a problem for Greater Melbourne—they're a problem across our entire state, including Ballarat, Mildura, and Castlemaine.

The SRL Authority should amend the Public Benefit Uplift framework to include options such as cash contributions to the Social Housing Growth Fund. The SRL Authority should draw these options from the existing Development Facilitation Program. This will ensure the SRL Precincts are able to maximally boost community and public housing stock for the Victorians who need it most.

Australia’s leading pro-housing advocates unveil The Brick Book, a shovel-ready guide for the next government can fix the housing crisis

We broadly endorse the bold and necessary policy directions suggested in the draft 30-year strategy—especially the recommendation to upzone around existing infrastructure, but caution about mandatory inclusionary zoning.

We build upon previous work to answer a simple question: across Melbourne’s transport network, which additional 25 train stations should be prioritised for inclusion in the Activity Centre Program?

Upper-level setbacks are terrible for both environmental sustainability and housing affordability. They have almost no benefits, and are making our city worse.

It is time for a planning system that, across all of Melbourne and indeed all of Victoria, says yes in its backyard.

As the effects of climate change begin to induce more frequent and extreme weather conditions, it is imperative to make our housing and communities more resilient to these significant challenges.

We have three priority areas we believe would benefit from a Productivity Commission deep dive: zoning and planning rules as a barrier to housing construction, heritage and character restrictions as a barrier to building in well-located areas, and barriers to the recruitment of skilled migrants in construction trades.

The Abundant Housing Network Australia would like to thank the Senate Standing Legislation Committee on Economics for the opportunity to provide comments on this private memberʼs bill.

A model for a greener, greater Melbourne. Enabling all future Melburnians access to robust street tree canopy, boosting amenity and fighting the urban heat island effect.

It's time to make urban planning accountable – 14 recommendations for better Australian cities.

Getting to a more fiscally sustainable and pro-growth local government sector.

YIMBY Melbourne strongly endorses the new Minimum Standards for rental properties and rooming houses. But loopholes need to be closed, and better information needs to be made available for renters.

Facilitating more build-to-rent is a key way for us to deliver more housing supply in a sustainable way — but it presents some unique challenges to our housing, planning and finance regulatory frameworks, some of which we’d like to address here.

An accountable system for housing abundance — 40,000 new homes every year. Melbourne's planning system lacks accountability. Our demand-driven housing target model ensures more homes are built where people want to live.

Broad upzoning is necessary, but not sufficient, for solving the housing affordability crisis. It, however, is a necessary precondition for any long-term strategy to bring down housing prices.

We request that the Commonwealth consider as part of the 2024-25 budget a programme that would see the transfer of underutilised Commonwealth-owned land to state or local governments at no cost, for the purpose of building public and community housing

Building a liveable, affordable, and sustainable city for all.

We are writing to you today regarding reports that your Government is moving to exclude skilled tradespeople from the fast-tracked high-income visa processing stream.

We are writing to you today regarding a consistent misreporting of building completions in Canberra that may have repercussions on the implementation of National Cabinet’s ambitious and welcome New Home Bonus scheme.

For a bigger, better, and more sustainable Melbourne, housing abundance, via inner-city densification and building up, rather than out, is the only viable path forward.

Our submissions substantively address actions that can be taken by governments to reduce rents or limit rent rises and factors impacting supply and demand of affordable rentals in the terms of reference.

We extend our strong support for replacing current land transfer duty fees with a broad-based tax on the unimproved value of land.