Land for 26,000 homes to be released for housing by 2030, with most slated to become units
Almost nine out of 10 blocks of land to be released for residential development across Canberra by 2030 will be for multi-unit housing — an announcement industry representatives say strikes the right balance for the future of housing.
The ACT government's latest Housing Supply and Land Release Program promises to deliver 26,000 new homes through land release.
Sites for new single dwellings are slated for Belconnen, Gungahlin, and the Molonglo Valley, with a handful in East Canberra.
All releases in other districts will be for multi-unit housing.
The announcement is part of the territory government's commitment to providing 30,000 additional homes by 2030 — by which time Canberra's population is expected to have grown by 48,000 residents.
The government expects the private sector contribution to new housing — which on average is between 1,000 to 1,500 homes annually — will increase over the coming five years to more than 9,000 additional homes.
Last month, Treasurer and Planning Minister Chris Steel proposed planning changes which would relax restrictions on the development of so-called "missing middle housing" like townhouses, terraces and low-rise apartments in suburban areas.
"These targets will be achieved through budget investment to build more social and affordable homes, undertaking the next stages of planning reform, further land release and investment in supporting infrastructure.
"We will continue to progress missing middle housing reforms, as well as supporting more well-located homes close to transport, services and jobs."
Construction and housing industry groups have long advocated for more land release in Canberra.
Master Builders ACT criticised last year's land release announcement — which more than doubled the number of sites the government previously planned to make available — for including blocks it said wouldn't be "shovel-ready" for many years.
However this time around the association's chief executive, Anna Neelagama, welcomed the announcement of the 26,000 homes.
But said the government needed to ensure they delivered on its promise.
"That is a good thing … Now let's turn that good ambition into reality.
"What you see when you look at the data for land release of a five-year period is that it generally falls short of ambition."
She said the balance between stand-alone houses and multi-unit housing was ultimately determined by the market and economic viability.
"There remain a lot of challenges for project viability and building construction," she said.
"Building construction costs are still up 35 per cent since the onset of COVID-19.
"A lot of builders are struggling to make projects work."
Mr Steel said there would be measures in Tuesday's ACT budget to ensure the industry could meet demand for affordable housing, including an increase in training subsidies to 90 per cent for carpenters, tilers, bricklaying and other critical construction trades; a try-a-trade program for ACT public high schools; and $250 annual cost of living payments for apprentices.
"Increasing training subsidies will help more construction employers to take on apprentices where they now only have to take on around 10 per cent of the cost of training."
The government said the budget would also support 85 new public housing, 300 affordable built-to-rent homes and 17 new social housing townhouses in Coombs through federal government programs, as well as another $20 million for the ACT's Affordable Housing Project Fund.
Stamp duty concession threshold for all eligible home purchases will increase from $1 million to $1.02 million — in line with inflation.
Mr Steel said the government would release land for 20 per cent social and affordable housing in the next financial year — above the target of 15 per cent.
"We have done a lot of work to make sure we are identifying more land to support lower income households and then making significant investments in supporting community housing providers as well," he said.
"The budget will deliver a quadrupling of the land tax exemption for community housing, that provides 75 per cent market rent for people who are in quite vulnerable situations."
Opposition Leader Leanne Castley said while extra land release was welcome, new homes were just not being approved and built quickly enough.
"This is simply more wrapping paper on their dud policies, with the land being released occurring way too slow to even go close to keeping their election promise," Ms Castley said.
"Dwelling approvals are still occurring way too slowly as well thanks to ACT Labor's addiction to extra regulation and extra construction costs."
Ms Castley accused the government of blaming the industry when it has pointed to the delivery of new homes being subject to market capacity and industry capability.
"After all, what about the Lease Variation Charge, commercial rates, the cost of workers compensation, planning approval times and red tape," Ms Castley said.
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