The Residential Development Council (RDC) welcomes the Federal Government’s budget announcement of an upcoming National Urban Policy which provides the first step in providing Australians with a long‑term strategic plan for our urban centres.
Tonight’s budget announcements included several components which address the dual concerns of sustainable growth and population and signals the Government’s intention to take greater involvement in urban policy, said Residential Development Council (RDC) Executive Director, Caryn Kakas.
“We welcome tonight’s announcement as the first step in the development of a National Urban Policy, but we are concerned that housing is merely a footnote in the budget.”
“The injection of $100 million to encourage industry to relocate employment opportunities to urban fringes will provide for real job choices for residents.”
“The allocation of $20 million to assist local councils undertake new demonstration residential projects that are liveable, sustainable and offer a high quality of life recognises the real life challenges facing urban densification."
Ms Kakas said while these initiatives are steps in the right direction toward creating a long overdue blueprint for our future communities, there is still much more to be done.
“Australia is currently facing a national undersupply of housing caused in no small part by planning system that is both fragmented and overly complex.
We strongly encourage the Government to commit to planning reform, tackling escalating costs on the delivery of housing, and to ensure the industry is better placed to secure strong economic growth for our cities and communities through long term planning.”
Ms Kakas said underpinning the success of the new urban policy will be the delivery of appropriate infrastructure.
"It is disappointing that there are no direct initiatives for housing to tackle the issues restricting the delivery of supply, as identified in a myriad of recent government reports."
"Everything now hinges on the government’s urban policy to deliver on housing outcomes", said Ms Kakas.
“This budget has made initial steps toward the implementation of a National Urban Policy. The industry now looks forward to the government’s commitment on how it will deliver affordable housing now and into the future.” said Ms Kakas.
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Media Contacts:
Caryn Kakas, Executive Director, Residential Development Council on 0404 257 540 or ckakas@propertyoz.com.au; or
Emma Clark, PR & Communications Manager, Residential Development Council on 0428 950 866 or eclark@propertyoz.com.au
