THE Property Council of Australia has welcomed the Coalition’s plan to fast-track housing environment approval applications if elected.
The Coalition announced last week it would set a target of clearing the backlog of housing environmental approvals within 12 months, and any project already stuck in the approvals process for more than a year would be finalised within six months.
This was a key ask in the Property Council’s pre-election document, which called for priority fast-tracked Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) assessments to unlock thousands of new homes.
Property Council Group Executive Policy and Advocacy Matthew Kandelaars said environmental approvals of new housing projects had become bogged down in bureaucratic delay.
“Tens of thousands of homes are currently stalled in environmental approval processes, and creating a priority pathway for housing developments will unlock critically needed supply,” Mr Kandelaars said.
“This is not about cutting corners, and maintaining strong environmental standards is non-negotiable. Any fast-track approval processes will need to find the balance between good environmental outcomes and housing supply – but that balance can and must be found. “Working with the industry experts on the design of these pathways will be key in ensuring its success.”
It comes as seasonally adjusted numbers released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics show we are now over 30,000 homes behind the 1.2 million new homes target by 2029.
To meet the National Housing Accord’s 2029 target, over 60,000 new homes are needed every quarter. In the December quarter, only 45,167 homes were built across Australia, up 0.4 per cent from the September quarter, and 41,911 homes were commenced, down 4.4 per cent.
Mr Kandelaars said although green shoots were starting to emerge, we were still playing catch-up to build the homes we need.
“We are building half the number of homes per hour than we did 30 years ago,” he said. “It takes over a year to build a home and over three years to build an apartment project – that’s simply too long.
“We have an ambitious and admirable target of 1.2 million new homes by 2029, but we need to double our national accord bonus of $3 billion to states who are tracking to build their fair share – backed as recently as yesterday by independent Allegra Spender.
“Both major parties need to double down on supply-side initiatives to get more homes built and more keys in the hands of Australian homebuyers and renters.”
The Property Council’s pro-cities, pro-investment election platform called for the following changes to EPBC assessments to unlock over 40,000 new homes:
- Priority fast-tracked determinations on a pay-to-play basis
- Establish a Housing Accord related fast-track pathway with dedicated resources, experts and agreed decision making timeframes for applications that relate to residential development projects that will have homes complete by 30 June 2029
- Short-term third-party, independent decision-making using delegation of Ministerial powers
- Resolve post-approval delays with a set 60-day timeframe to endorse management plans and strategies.
