Social and affordable housing targeted in policy reform not enough to fix NT housing crisis: industry

Major property developments and policy reforms targeting social and affordable housing will not be enough to meet the Territory’s need, industry bodies have warned.

Major development projects in the pipeline will not be enough to meet the NT’s housing demand unless policy changes are made to encourage investment and meet social need, industry bodies say.

The Territory has signed on to an “extremely ambitious” target of 11,430 homes delivered over five years.

Several large-scale builds are already in the works across the Territory, including a development in Palmerston at Holtze and Kowandi, which hopes to house 15,000 once fully built.

More than $100m has been committed for headworks and land release in Holtze, Kilgariff, Katherine East and Tennant Creek.

An 800 home defence development at Lee Point has stalled due to protests. Picture: Sierra Haigh

A defence housing project at Lee Point promising 800 homes is under way but has been stalled in its second stage due to concerns over the development’s environmental impact.

Plans to rezone urban areas to allow for medium and high density developments have also been drafted by the Planning Commission, though details of where the changes might take place are yet to be made public.

But the Housing Institute of Australia warns the housing pipeline will do little to meet demand unless more is done to attract private investment.

“The land being released at Holtze and Kowandi – that’s great, but those homes won’t be available until 2024 or 2025, we need places ready for people to move in now,” Northern Territory executive director Luis Espinoza said.

“The taxes and all the red tape around buying a home is just making it harder, and that has a domino effect.”

Property Council NT Director Ruth Palmer called for government to form a housing alliance made up of various government department heads, private sector players, lobby groups and community housing providers.

“The ability to deliver housing at scale is missing both as a framework within government and overall capability from the construction industry – government can’t do it on its own and must work alongside industry,” she said.

The Property Council is pushing for stamp duty concessions to be extended, raising the income limit cap for the HomeBuild Access program and introducing a grant to encourage seniors looking to downsize.

Industry bodies say more must be done to encourage private investment in housing. Picture: Glenn Campbell

Several policy reforms led by the federal government promise an influx of money to the Territory to target social and affordable housing.

If the Housing Australia Future Fund passes federal parliament it will deliver 1200 new homes in the Territory over five years, the Social Housing Accelerator Payment has earmarked $50m for the NT, and the Housing Support Program offers $500m in competitive funding to connect housing developments with essential services.

Chief Minister Natasha Fyles said her government was working to simplify approval processes for social and affordable housing, and recent reforms had introduced a more streamlined development approval pathway.

“Our government has been working for some years on this by improving planning and land release, delivering the right pipeline of infrastructure and investing in more social housing,” she said.

Dr Ali Rajabipour says social issues must be addressed to improve housing numbers in remote communities. AAP Image/Karen Michelmore

The government missed its July deadline for 650 equivalent new homes in remote communities, with only about 417 being delivered to address the estimated 1931 required to meet need.

Charles Darwin University researcher Ali Rajabipour said part of the challenge was keeping pace with replacement, with homes in remote communities lasting on average between just four and seven years – due in part to vandalism and destruction.

“There’s often not enough local knowledge to maintain the structures, there’s not enough of a sense of ownership, attitudes towards social housing can be negative, and it can take weeks for repairs to arrive from bigger towns,” Dr Rajabipour said.

He said addressing social issues that led homes becoming unlivable was an equally important step to boosting housing stock as building the structures.

“If we’re not looking at the underpinning causes of this problem we’re not going to solve it.”

Housing will be one of the key issues discussed at the NT News’ Future Northern Territory forum at Mindil Beach Casino on Friday, September 8.

To purchase a ticket to the event on Friday, September 8, click here.