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With supply pressures squeezing the regions, NSW’s regional housing taskforce has publicly released its recommended course of action.
Changing patterns of work, investment in regional industries, and the regions’ attractive lifestyle have recently caused an influx of new residents and investors to NSW coastal and country towns, which has been exacerbated by the flow-on effects of COVID-19.
In response to this migration shift, NSW charged a taskforce with investigating regional housing issues and the planning barriers people are experiencing in buying, renting, and building a place to live in the regions.
The results of that investigation have now been released, making five key recommendations for action that should be taken not only to increase the supply of housing generally but to also provide a diverse range of housing that supports the full spectrum of housing needs in regional communities.
The taskforce, which was led by Newcastle-based independent planning expert Garry Fielding, has recommended that the government:
- Support measures that bring forward a supply of “development ready” land.
- Increase the availability of affordable and diverse housing across regional NSW.
- Provide more certainty about where, when, and what types of homes will be built.
- Investigate planning levers to facilitate the delivery of housing that meets short term needs.
- Improve monitoring of housing and policy outcomes and demand indicators.
The recommendations are informed by the taskforce’s findings report that was handed to Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Rob Stokes in September 2021. That report distilled the findings from a process of consultation and engagement with a broad array of stakeholders that the group carried out during July and August.
Over the course of the consultation process, the taskforce identified eight principles that directed their formulation of the recommendations. These principles outlined the need for:
- Investment in upfront, place-based strategic planning to improve decision-making, provide certainty and enable more efficient assessments.
- A more transparent and certain supply pipeline and the activation of latent supply by addressing infrastructure requirements and resolving site constraints.
- Greater collaboration by the NSW government with the federal government, local governments, and industry to improve the identification, funding, and delivery of infrastructure to support priority housing.
- Assurances that new housing will be appropriately located, well-designed, fit for purpose, and better provide for the diversity of housing needs, including strengthening planning and approval pathways for innovative typologies and tenures.
- Social and affordable housing to be considered as essential social and economic infrastructure.
- The delivery of diverse housing that meets demonstrated need through targeted use of government land.
- An increased capacity for local government and local industries to plan and deliver housing in the regions.
- Enhancements in monitoring and evaluation of policy and housing outcomes.
In his introduction to the report, Mr Fielding noted that while the taskforce focused on the role of the planning system in issues of affordability, there are numerous other forces outside of their scope that also require attention.
“Because housing outcomes are influenced by a broad range of economic and policy drivers, they cannot be meaningfully improved without a sustained whole-of-government response that addresses both market and non-market provision of housing,” Mr Fielding commented.
The NSW government has pledged to closely consider the recommendations and release a response by the close of 2021.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Juliet Helmke
Based in Sydney, Juliet Helmke has a broad range of reporting and editorial experience across the areas of business, technology, entertainment and the arts. She was formerly Senior Editor at The New York Observer.
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