In a time of rising construction costs, plummeting home building activity and increasing demand, the Housing Availability and Affordability (Planning and Other Legislation Amendment) Act 2024 was passed through Parliament in April 2024, amending the Planning Act 2016 to hopefully streamline and facilitate affordable residential development throughout the state.
The new Act implements the following key changes aimed at facilitating more efficient development processes, including:
- Where a development application specifically proposes that it will provide for an affordable housing component, or for State facilitated development which requires the provision of affordable housing, the Chief Executive, assessment managers, or referral agencies can now impose conditions on the development approval to ensure the delivery of affordable housing. This provision offers greater certainty and clarity for the implementation of affordable housing projects.
- The Planning Minister now has new powers to take land or create easements for development infrastructure for planning purposes, which aims to deliver critical development infrastructure and alleviate issues relating to fragmented land ownership and delays.
- Certain developments can now be declared by the Planning Minister as a “State facilitated development”, meaning if the development meets the criteria, it will be assessed through a streamlined process, and notably, development approvals for State facilitated developments are not able to be appealed in the Planning and Environment Court.
As part of the changes to the Act, there are consequential changes to subordinate planning Regulations and Development Assessment Rules.
The key amendments to the Regulations include:
- criteria for the new State facilitated development pathway;
- a new ability to impose a development condition for the provision of an affordable housing component;
- criteria for an affordable housing component;
- modernisation of terminology used in development control plan areas to terms used in the Planning Act;
- a new definition for ‘build-to-rent’ development;
- requirements for applications to register, renew and amend urban encroachment registrations;
- requirement for applications to extend or amend temporary use licences; and
- requirements to keep particular materials available for inspection and purchase.
Additionally, changes to the development approval rules include:
- a process for assessing and deciding a State facilitated development application;
- modernised public notice requirements;
- criteria for what constitutes an administrative and minor amendment to a planning scheme;
- a new ability for the Planning Minister to impose a condition on a proposed Temporary Local Planning Instrument; and
- modernised public notice and submission requirement.
The amendments will allow for the inclusion of affordable housing component in conditions, providing an administrative definition for build-to-rent projects and changes relating to the use and extension of temporary use licences.
It is hoped also that the changes will facilitate the growth and sustainability of social and affordable homes, and simplify and expedite housing supply in the right locations, at a time when it is urgently needed.
Somewhat perversely, here on the Gold Coast, council has hit high-rise apartment owners with a “view tax”, with a rise in rates of up to 40% in the past six months. The rate hikes during this cost-of-living crisis could make apartment living unattractive and unaffordable, when the idea of increased unit stock is being thrown around as one of the solutions to combat the housing crisis. Just last week, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Planning and Minister for Public Work, Meaghan Scanlon, announced that more than 150 social and affordable homes will be built at Nerang Street, Southport. Moreover, a 60-unit development is currently being assessed in Nerang, in partnership with the St Vincent de Paul Society Queensland.
