Future Melbourne turns to housing with Rob Pradolin

The next episode of Future Melbourne turns to one of the biggest and most urgent issues facing the City of Melbourne: housing.

Hosted by Hyperlocal News publisher and editor Sean Car, the latest episode features property developer and Housing All Australians founder Rob Pradolin in a wide-ranging discussion about affordability, supply, density, homelessness and the role governments and the private sector need to play in fixing a system under growing strain.

The episode explores a question now central to Melbourne’s future: not just how to build more homes, but how to build the right homes in the right places.

Pradolin, the former general manager of Frasers Property Australia, has become one of the country’s more prominent voices arguing for practical, system-wide reform across the housing sector. The discussion examines where the current system is failing, why housing needs to be treated as essential economic infrastructure, and what a more balanced housing system could look like at a city scale.

Topics covered in the episode include the housing continuum, from crisis and social housing through to private rental and ownership, along with the pressures now being felt across each part of that chain. The conversation also touches on hidden homelessness, the growing number of older women at risk of housing insecurity, and the mismatch between what is being built and what many Melburnians actually need.

The episode also looks to the future growth areas that will shape Melbourne for decades, including Fishermans Bend and Arden-Macaulay, with discussion about how these renewal precincts can avoid repeating past planning mistakes. Other issues explored include adaptive reuse of vacant office buildings, build-to-rent, temporary housing solutions, and Housing All Australians’ PRADS model for unlocking affordable rental housing through a mix of private capital and public support.

It is the fourth instalment of the Future Melbourne podcast, following earlier episodes on Queen Victoria Market with CEO Matt Elliott, the future of the CBD and city economy with Stephen Mayne, and Docklands with former City of Melbourne councillor Jamal Hakim.

The podcast series continues to build as a platform for deeper conversations about the issues shaping Melbourne’s future, from major urban renewal and economic change to public space, culture, transport and housing.

Next week’s episode continues that focus on city-shaping issues, with a discussion on the future of urban renewal in the Arden and Macaulay precincts. 

The latest episode of Future Melbourne, Housing in the City of Melbourne, is available now. You can also watch the full video via the link at the top of the article.

Listen on Spotify: Housing in the City of Melbourne – Future Melbourne podcast