Coalition homes in on growing suburbs to tackle price pressures

A PLAN to fast-track more land in outer suburbs is the opposition’s latest bid to stimulate price competition and end Melbourne’s housing affordability crisis.

EXCLUSIVE: LAND to build at least 290,000 homes in outer Melbourne suburbs would be released to help ease housing affordability pressures, under a state Coalition plan.

Opposition Leader Matthew Guy today will promise that a Liberal/Nationals government would fast-track precinct plans in outer growth areas and release the land within two years in order to stimulate price competition.

All of the new residential lots would be within the current urban growth boundary. Target areas include Melton, Wyndham, Hume, Whittlesea, Mitchell, Cardinia and Casey.

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At a speech to the Housing Industry Association today, Mr Guy will pledge to finish metropolitan precinct plans by mid-2020 to speed up the pace homes are brought to market and to ensure families are connected to parks, schools and transport.

It is the first part of a “five-point plan” to tackle housing affordability that the Coalition will release before the November 24 state poll.

“It’s never been harder for Victorians to own a home and there is no silver bullet to fix Victoria’s housing affordability crisis,” Mr Guy said.

“But one of the biggest ways to address housing affordability is to increase land supply.

“Greater land supply will drive price competition in the growth-area land market.”

Victorian Opposition Leader Matthew Guy. Photo: AAP

Victoria’s population is booming, with much of the growth centred on Melbourne.

In a bid to stimulate faster land release, early last year the Andrews Government promised to rezone 100,000 lots in growth corridors.

But red tape has limited the number coming to market, and a recent Urban Institute of Development Australia report shows Melbourne has about 23,000 new residential lots being developed into homes every year.

Mr Guy said this was happening as growth-area lot prices swelled to $314,000, and he promised to “streamlined processes to slash unnecessary and unreasonable delays”.

Melbourne’s house prices have been booming. Picture: Tim Carrafa

This would include a special post-Precinct Structure Planning dispute resolution process in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, and fines for responsible authorities and referral authorities causing unreasonable delays in planning processes.

The policy is likely to spark heated debate on how to deal with housing affordability and urban growth.

Yesterday, an Australian Population Research Institute paper said limits to migration and changes to negative gearing could help.

The Grattan Institute recently argued affordability would get better if “more homes are built” — but called for higher density in middle suburbs. The Coalition recently promised to restrict density in established suburbs.