Housing delivery is bogged down in a web of bureaucracy

Why can’t we deliver enough new housing in Australia, in a timely manner and at an affordable price point?

It’s a question I often ponder, and while I don’t claim to have a complete answer, I think a large part of the problem is structural.

Housing is difficult to deliver because the successful delivery of new housing is reliant on so many factors outside of just housing itself.

Consider what a house actually is and what it requires. When you build a dwelling you aren’t really just building a house or an apartment, you also need:

• Roads to access the property

• Water and sewerage

• Electricity

• Telecommunications

• People to live in that home

• Access to employment

• Access to education

• Access to healthcare

• Access to amenities like supermarkets

• Communal spaces and parks

• Public transport (not always but it’s always preferable)

There are other considerations when building a home such as building to Australian standards and meeting certain environmental requirements.

In Australia we also have three layers of government, all of which can be involved in approving housing, regulating housing and delivering the infrastructure required to facilitate new housing. And it’s not just a case that we have a housing or planning minister across each level of government, new housing is also reliant on infrastructure, environment, education, essential services all of which sit in different portfolios and with different government ministers.

Is it any wonder that obtaining approvals is so costly and time consuming which all impacts on the feasibility of new housing developments?

If I look at the federal government and the Ministers that have portfolios which may contribute to decisions that impact on housing supply I see the following portfolios.

• Treasurer

• Minister for Finance

• Minister for Housing (in the current parliament the Minister for Housing is also the Minister for Homelessness and Minister for Cities)

• Minister for Immigration and Citizenship

• Minister for Emergency Management

• Minister for Health and Ageing

• Minister for Climate Change and Energy

• Minister for the Environment and Water

• Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government

• Minister for Education

• Attorney General

This is just at a federal level you then have state and local governments which are also involved in the process.

If you review the NSW Government Ministers as a benchmark being the largest state, noting ministries are different state-to-state, the following Ministers and their departments may also make decisions which impact on new housing delivery and have a say on new housing delivery. This ranges from direct involvement such as the Housing Minister to those with portfolios that have an influence on whether housing can actually be financed, serviced and delivered. I’ve also highlighted the types of decisions these ministers make that could impact on housing supply: