More homes should be built around existing train stations and new Metro stops,he said. “Letting people live near rail means people have access to everything Sydney has to offer,it’s the path to true long-term affordability.”
Brendan Coates,the economic policy program director at the Grattan Institute,said Sydney had a shortage of medium- and high-density housing where people want to live. “It is a myth that new home-owners only want a quarter-acre block.”
Current planning rules and community opposition made it difficult to create extra homes in the inner city and middle-ring suburbs,Coates said.
“Local councils in highly-sought-after neighbourhoods reflect the interests of those that live there,” he said. “Prospective residents that would move into any new housing built don’t get a say.”
Data collated by the Urban Development Institute of Australia shows home ownership rates for Australians aged 25-34 were just 42 per cent in 2021 – compared to 50 per cent in 2006 and 61 per cent in 1981.
Coates said home building will slow and housing prices will rise if NIMBY residents win.
“Australians need to face up to a harsh truth:either people accept greater density in their suburb,or their children will not be able to buy a home near where they live,” he said.
Urban Taskforce chief executive Tom Forrest said housing targets had been set low,yet most councils were “way off” achieving housing targets.
“While COVID explains some of this slowdown they are still unlikely to achieve their five-year targets despite immigration forecast to return,” he said.
“Those that refuse to work towards the delivery of housing targets should have their planning powers progressively removed from them as they are hindering the economy,employment and the very future of our city,” he said.
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Coates said councils ignored housing targets because there were no consequences,while planning regulations had not changed much despite the city’s growing housing needs.
Councils such as Fairfield and Inner West have criticised the state government for failing to count granny flats,seniors housing developments and boarding house rooms.
“This causes an obstacle to achieve housing target numbers for western Sydney and in particular Fairfield City,” a Fairfield City spokeswoman said.
Five-year housing targets varied dramatically across Sydney with councils such as Parramatta (21,650),City of Sydney (18,300) and Canterbury Bankstown (13,250) required to approve thousands of new homes than councils such as Hunters Hill (150),Mosman and Woollahra (both 300).
Hunters Hill Liberal mayor Zac Miles said his council’s housing target was lower than neighbouring councils such as Ryde and Lane Cove,but “it is a significant number for Hunters Hill”.
“This is partly due to our size,the amount of heritage and conservation areas we enjoy and,given we are a brownfield council,we have much fewer locations suitable for redevelopment outside our village centres,” he said.
Similarly,Mosman Council has limited capacity to add more homes,has minimal population growth and lacks heavy rail infrastructure,a spokeswoman said. “Council is confident Mosman will meet its short to medium term targets which have been set by the state government,with any shortfall made up by new projects in the pipeline or currently under construction.”
Northern Beaches mayor Michael Regan said the council was not opposed to housing targets,but “there needs to be appropriate infrastructure in place to support this growth,including public transport,schools,open space and hospitals”.
A council spokeswoman said Canterbury Bankstown had been given an “unreasonable target” by the state government and had been forced to absorb more homes than neighbouring councils.
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The council had fallen behind its housing target because of the length of time planning processes take to pass through the state government,she said.
A Planning Department spokesman said in a statement more than 180,000 homes had been built across Sydney in the past five years. “We are building a faster,simpler planning system with clear expectations for councils as well as providing them with incentives to assess applications more quickly.”
Greens planning spokeswoman Cate Faehrmann said western Sydney councils were bearing the brunt of the government’s target for new housing.
“We have to find a way to meet demand that is fair across Sydney and that includes incorporating development wherever possible on existing development footprint and where there is decent infrastructure,” she said.
Faehrmann rejected calls from developers to strip councils of more planning power. “Communities should be empowered to decide what sort of developments are appropriate in their backyard instead of property developers deciding what’s best for their bottom line.”
Coates said the state government needed to carry bigger ‘sticks’ to ensure councils meet housing targets,including taking away planning powers.
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“The NSW government could also offer ‘carrots’ such as bonus payments for councils that meet or exceed housing targets,” he said. “Although obviously these bonuses need to be large enough to outweigh the political costs to councils of pro-development decisions.”
Bill Randolph,a professor in the City Futures Research Centre at the University of NSW,called for more moderate-scale housing development in middle-ring suburbs and “not just in tower blocks crammed around railway stations or single lot houses crammed into fringe lot developments”.
“We’ve seen a marked reduction in the number of development applications for apartments since 2018 as the boom turned to bust in 2018 – and that had nothing to do with the planning system,” he said.
“There needs to be a major shift back to public intervention to fund really affordable housing for those who cannot afford the escalating market prices – built by the private sector but owned and managed by not-for-profits,” he said.