Planning delays worsening housing crisis: HIA

AUSTRALIA’S residential building industry peak body has released a new Planning Scorecard to assess the performance of each state and territory’s current planning systems, in the wake of house approvals taking longer than ever to get through local councils.

Results from the Housing Industry Australia Scorecard have found that every planning system across the country is struggling under the weight of housing demands, and that the time for business-as-usual solutions to planning and zoning issues has passed.

HIA executive director of planning and environment Mike Hermon said the delays are exacerbating Australia’s housing and rental shortages, which are even more pronounced in regional Australia.

“[The] latest ABS data shows that 28 per cent of Australians now live outside of major capital cities and this is expected to increase in the coming years as more people get priced out of living in metro areas,” he said.

“Unfortunately, the housing shortages being experienced in capital cities are even worse across nearly every regional town in Australia.

“Three key factors hampering the delivery of more housing in regional Australia includes access to shovel (build) ready land, investment in necessary enabling infrastructure for new housing estates and staff shortages in regional councils to process planning approvals.

“We need bold leadership by all tiers of government and this needs to not just be focused on major capital cities, but address the key issues being faced in regional Australia to enable these regions to grow and flourish.”

Find results from the scorecard at hia.com.au.