“Left in the dark”: council not included in housing target discussion

With the state government’s final housing target announcement looming, the City of Melbourne has called for greater transparency and a collaborative approach to be adopted to help set an achievable target. 

Earlier this year Premier Jacinta Allan and Minister for Planning Sonya Kilkenny set the draft state housing targets for 2051, announcing a target of more than two million additional homes across the state and 134,000 new homes for the City of Melbourne. 

As part of its submission, which was considered at the Future Melbourne Committee (FMC) meeting on September 3, the council requested that further information be provided and that a greater level of engagement is needed to refine the final housing target that is expected to be announced by the end of 2024. 

According to council housing data, delivery of the housing target would require an unprecedented 5000 additional houses – a scale of development akin to a new suburb every year for the next 26 years. 

However, the council forecasts predict that only an additional 52,000 homes by 2051 are required to accommodate for the city’s growing population. 

When announced in June, the draft targets were welcomed by the council on the provision that more information be provided and that the Victorian Government worked alongside it throughout the planning process.

The state government vowed that it would consult closely with councils to harness their local knowledge when reviewing the draft target, and that they would have the power to unlock space for more homes by proposing changes to local planning rules.

But the City of Melbourne’s planning portfolio lead Cr Rohan Leppert believes that this was not the way the process unfolded and slammed the state government for conducting a substandard consultation process. 

The outgoing councillor said that the state government’s commitment to working closely with councils was “absolute rubbish” and that a “serious conversation” is needed to address the targets. 

Within its submission, the council recommended that it works with the Victorian Government to refine the housing target. 

Additionally, it has suggested that tax and regulatory structures that address housing inequity and stimulate new development should be reviewed and investigated for potential reform.

The proposed review would seek to redistribute tax incentives to improve the supply of quality housing for owner-occupiers and to explore options to increase diversity in the market. 

To achieve the latter, the council suggested the state government encourage alternative delivery models and institutional investment, through not-for-profit housing providers and superannuation-backed developments.

Speaking on September 3, Lord Mayor Nick Reece said that he was optimistic about the final housing target and that by working alongside the state government to refine it, the City of Melbourne could become “bigger and better”. 

While adding that he believed reaching the target was a challenge that the city could achieve, he said that all the settings and support structures needed to be in place for it to occur. 

“There is a lot of work ahead … as we continue and engage with the Victorian Government and refine our city’s housing target,” Cr Reece said. 

As a part of the submission, the council have also requested that an affordable housing target be introduced and that the option for existing buildings to be retrofitted should be explored. 

Once the final housing targets are released later this year, they will help contribute to the new plan for Victoria which is set to be a blueprint to guide how Victoria grows and develops over the coming decades. •