[Greens-Media] Greens have solutions to Perth housing mismatch

[Torre, Giovanni (Sen S. Ludlam)]

Greens have solutions to Perth housing mismatch
Australian Greens housing spokesperson - Senator for Western Australia Scott Ludlam. 31 May 2013.

'The Housing We'd Choose' study released today by the Housing Industry Association, Planning Institute of Australia, Property Council and the WA Planning and Housing departments confirms there is a major mismatch between housing demand and housing supply in Perth.

"For too long the sole focus has been on building big new homes on newly-cleared land on the city's outskirts, yet this research shows most people would rather live in an established suburb close to jobs and services - even if it means a smaller home or block size," Greens Senator for Western Australia Scott Ludlam said.

"Only 15 per cent of Perth people say they need a four-bedroom house, but that's what's proliferating on the expanding fringes of our city.  At the same time there is 23 per cent under-supply of semi-detached housing such as terrace housing, town houses, row houses, and other small-to-medium size dwellings in Perth.  That's a supply that meets barely three quarters of the demand.  People understand that urban sprawl is not the solution to Perth's housing crisis, so why can't governments?

"Despite low interest rates, national first home-buyer numbers have fallen to their lowest level since May 2004, making up just 14.2 per cent of housing loans in March this year.  The policy settings are wrong. The study found 98 per cent of Australians would prefer to buy rather than rent, but investors and landlords are snapping up properties while almost a third of Australians are renting.  And those who are buying for the first time can only afford to buy far away from jobs and public amenities.

"As the Greens' National Housing Spokesperson, I am working with the Property Council of Australia and the Australian Urban Design Research Centre to fix this.  Our report Transforming Perth identifies how 252,000 new affordable homes could be delivered for Perth in established suburbs, along transport routes, through a mixture of medium and higher density development - without expensive and destructive land clearing.

"Research by Curtin University found that every 1000 lots of urban sprawl development costs the public $378.8 million more in infrastructure than 1000 lots of infill development.  Sprawl is costing us billions - and it's not delivering affordable housing."

Transforming Perth - http://greenswa.net.au/sites/default/files/transformingperth.pdf.

The Housing We'd Choose report summary attached.




Media contact: Giovanni Torre - 0417 174 302