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Planning reform, land release and the supply of housing

Summary

This research established the link between land use planning policies and mechanisms and the form of housing supplied. It examined details of both planning policy and housing supply in the state of Victoria over a time period covering two significant policy regime shifts. The research was confined to metropolitan Melbourne, but the results would be applicable to other Australian cities, most of which have adopted similar policies.

Project Number: 30590
Research Theme: Housing_affordability, Urban_planning_and_development
Project Leader: Goodman, Robin
Funding Year: 2009
Research Centre: RMIT

Research & Policy Bulletin

Issue 148: Planning and the characteristics of housing supply in Melbourne

To achieve the goals of strategic planning on density, the mix of new dwellings, location and improving housing supply, strategic planning and planning policy require incentives and regulatory changes. This Research and Policy Bulletin provides details of the key findings and policy implications from the completed AHURI research project Planning reform, land release and the supply of housing.

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341 KB PDF Document

Description

The key Research Questions are:

1. Do changes to land use planning policies and mechanisms impact on the types of housing supplied, particularly in new release areas?
2. Are policies designed to bring about urban consolidation affecting the type of housing being built, and if so in what way?
3. Is there a correlation between planning policies and changes to house prices?
4. To what extent and in what way do government policies impact on decisions on housing supply made by the development industry?

Methods utilised included:

Detailed property transaction records have been utilised to identify all vacant land sold since 1990. These records were combined with a confidentialised extract from the Statewide Valuations database to enable us to identify what has subsequently been constructed on the properties, using information compiled at the point of valuation as well as at the point of last sale. This identified details such as land and house size, type and valuation. Following this, detailed semi-structured interviews were conducted with major representatives from the development industry and local government planning managers to establish key factors, including government policy regimes, which affect decision making on issues of housing supply.

More Information

Positioning Paper: No. 126: Planning reform, land release and the supply of housing
344 KB PDF Document

Final Report: No. 157: Planning and the characteristics of housing supply in Melbourne
832 KB PDF Document

Research and Policy Bulletin: Issue 148: Planning and the characteristics of housing supply in Melbourne
341 KB PDF Document