Planning, government charges, and the costs of land and housing
Summary
This project drew on international research, a review of existing Australian data, and case studies in three states to understand the effect of planning regulations and charges on house prices and affordability in Australia. Although developer infrastructure contributions represent the largest quantifiable planning related cost in Australia, averaging between $45 000 and $100 000 per lot, residential developers are more concerned by non-financial barriers such as planning system complexity, uncertain time frames and unpredictable costs. Smaller developers experience greater difficulties in absorbing unforseen costs, which reduces the viability of these enterprises. A lack of process transparency, inconsistent planning requirements across local government areas and a lack of trust between local councils has also emerged as significant non financial barriers to negotiating the planning system and has had the potential to significantly impact development costs.
Project Number: 70393
Research Theme: Housing_affordability, Urban planning and Development
Project Leader: Randolph, Bill
Funding Year: 2007
Research Centre: UNSW-UWS
Description
The following questions will guide the research:
- What is the international evidence regarding the impacts of government land use regulations and charges on house prices and what are the potential implications for determining the connections between government regulations, the cost of housing production, and housing affordability, in Australia?
- What is the existing evidence on the costs of government regulation associated with the residential development process in Australia?
- What is the cost effect on housing production of state and local government regulations and charges across the Australian states and in a sample of representative selected case study developments?
- How should policy makers and planners evaluate these potential cost impacts against the specific objective of the regulation, and to what extent could complementary measures (regulatory or otherwise) be introduced to offset any negative impacts on housing affordability?
