MEDIA STATEMENT: The NSW Productivity Commission’s report to fix the housing crisis focuses at least half of its recommendations on planning instead of labour shortages that have risen 29 per cent and the cost of finance which has added $83,000 to the cost of an apartment, the Planning Institute of Australia says. Following is its media statement late Wednesday,
A new report from the NSW Productivity & Equality Commission claims we can help solve the housing crisis if we stop requiring apartments to have access to sunlight is a missed opportunity.
The Fifth Estate’s Let’s Hack Housing event on 26 of this month (September)
will tackle these issues with two panels of leading experts
“A productive city needs long term planning for jobs, housing, infrastructure and places – not building poor quality units” noted Planning Institute of Australia (PIA) NSW president Sue Weatherley.
The commission’s review brushes over the biggest issues facing housing supply today, including construction costs, finance costs and labour availability.
“The report spins a very narrow vision for our cities shaped only by development feasibility for housing,” Ms Weatherley said.
The commission’s review of housing supply challenges and policy options for NSW brushes over the biggest issues facing housing supply today, including construction costs, finance costs and labour availability.
“The report highlights the impacts on feasibility of escalating construction costs – which is the largest cost of development, and which has increased by 29 per cent since 2018 – and finance costs, which have more than doubled and now add around $83,000 to the cost of an apartment,” noted Sue Weatherley.
“But instead of identifying meaningful solutions to these critical issues, the report is obsessed with planning even though land use and zoning decisions have no e?ect on these factors.
“At least half of the report’s 32 recommendations relate to planning matters, despite the evidence saying we need to solve the serious issues of construction and finance costs, as well as the delivery of the infrastructure we need to support density – especially social housing.
“We are disappointed at this missed opportunity to identify new solutions for housing, with the Commission instead raising fringe ideas like scrapping requirements for apartments to have access to sunlight.
Good planning and infrastructure investments are …how we ensure public support for the well-located density and housing diversity we need
“We need high-performing planning systems and there are opportunities for positive reform in NSW, but reducing the quality of development is not what the community wants to see.
“Good planning and infrastructure investments are critical ingredients in achieving the kind of communities people want to live in, and it’s how we ensure public support for the well-located density and housing diversity we need.”
PIA supported some of the report’s recommendations, including that infrastructure contributions should be “simple, certain, and cost-reflective”.
PIA also recognised that planning can reduce unnecessary delays by encouraging referral agency collaboration and by ensuring a streamlined development pathway for simple developments.
It has also supported the reduction of parking in well located apartment developments – not just to reduce construction costs but to get more from our investment in public transport and walking.
“It is much easier to accelerate approval timeframes when there is up-to-date and integrated strategic plans, setting out how and where we will grow, backed by the infrastructure we need to ensure socially, economically and environmentally sustainable communities,” Ms Weatherley said.