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Long delays in approving new housing applications are the biggest cause of Australia\u2019s affordability crisis, the head of one of Australia\u2019s big four banks says, warning that the combination of sluggish construction starts and rising migration is a recipe for more homelessness.<\/p>\n
NAB chief executive Ross McEwan has urged state governments to intervene to radically speed up planning approvals for new housing, arguing that the time between submitting an application and the start of construction should be three to six months \u2013 not the three to six years it takes in some cases.<\/p>\n
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Housing starts in Australia are at their lowest in a decade, according to the Housing Industry Association.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Jason South<\/cite><\/p>\n Those delays limit supply and push up property prices in Australia, McEwan said.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I\u2019m sitting around with a property [application] for three to six years trying to get through a planning process, that ends up being put into the cost of the house or the unit,\u201d he said at a forum on Australia\u2019s affordable housing shortage in Melbourne on Wednesday.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we get that down to three to six months and we can get that shovel in the ground, I think that would be the one thing that \u2026 would probably make the biggest difference.\u201d<\/p>\n Housing starts in Australia slumped 23 per cent last financial year to 57,830 \u2013 the lowest since 2013 \u2013 according to Housing Industry Association data. Meanwhile, Australia\u2019s population grew by 2.17 per cent to 563,200 people in the year to March, Australian Bureau of Statistics data reveals.<\/p>\n NAB Group chief executive Ross McEwan says planning delays are exacerbating Australia\u2019s housing affordability crisis. <\/span>Credit: <\/span>Simon Schluter<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve brought in over 500,000 people in the last 12 months. That hasn\u2019t made up for what left through COVID, but it\u2019s still a big number coming in, and we\u2019ve got housing starts and housing finishes at the lowest ebb we\u2019ve seen in decades,\u201d McEwan said.<\/p>\n \u201cSo those two coming together don\u2019t work, and it\u2019s meant that a lot of the population are really struggling with [housing].\u201d<\/p>\n Australia\u2019s estimated homeless population hit more than 120,000 at the most recent census.<\/p>\n NAB set a target last year to lend $6 billion for affordable housing by 2029, but argues in its October 20 submission to the national housing and homelessness plan that Australia must find more innovative financing techniques so that non-profit housing groups can access more capital.<\/p>\n Bevan Warner, the chief executive of Launch Housing which provides housing support to people experiencing homelessness, said the cost of housing would always be a barrier to reducing homelessness without significant government subsidies.<\/p>\n \u201cTo deliver below-market rent \u2013 whether it\u2019s key workers at 80 per cent of the market or social rent at 25 per cent of welfare payments \u2013 there needs to be a subsidy otherwise the financing won\u2019t stack and the housing won\u2019t be built, even if we have speedier planning approvals,\u201d Warner said.<\/p>\n The issue of planning delays has sparked a blame game between the Victorian government and local councils.<\/p>\n Dwelling approvals in Victoria fell by 26 per cent in the year to September, and the state government pointed the finger at councils last month over what it said was a backlog of 1400 planning permit applications that had been sitting with councils for more than six months.<\/p>\n The government promised in its September housing statement to clear the backlog and to strip councils of planning authority in cases where delays are the worst.<\/p>\n Councils have defended their record, with analysis by the Municipal Association of Victoria suggesting almost 120,000 dwellings have been approved and are ready to be built, but are being held up by developers and builders cancelling and shelving projects due to soaring building costs, rising interest rates and uncertainty linked to labour shortages.<\/p>\n Also speaking at the forum was Salvation Army Housing chief executive Chris Karagiannis, who said the charity was increasingly looking to philanthropists in the private sector to fill the shortfall in available government funding for its housing projects.<\/p>\n The charity opened 21 new housing units for women aged over 55 at risk of homelessness in Hobart in July.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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