Housing affordability could be improved through an overhaul to how development and infrastructure is planned in south-east Queensland.
That’s according to the co-author of a report from Suburban Futures, which explores how the processes for water and power installation in new homes could be revamped.
“We have to challenge ‘business as usual’,” co-author Ross Elliott said.
“I have come across no one in the industry … who has said ‘business as usual’ is fine and it’s working. The universal answer seems to be ‘business as usual’ is broken badly.
“To simply say ‘oh look, this is the way we’ve always done things’ is just no longer good enough.”
The report also examines the potential benefits of a model used overseas for planning and funding new infrastructure.
Last year this masthead reported the average cost of preparing a block for construction – which includes connecting to infrastructure – had surged about 80 per cent since the pandemic to just over $180,000, according to Colliers.
The Suburban Futures report released in February explores this challenge, and proposes treating new development areas as “infrastructure islands” capable of operating independently of the wider networks.
It says its proposals could cut upfront costs and bring new homes to market years earlier than they would be available otherwise.
Localised water treatment, and new forms of electricity production and storage, are specifically proposed to improve scalability.
An overarching organisational and funding model called a Municipal Utility District – or MUD – is flagged as a possible way to organise and fund projects.
These are used in several southern US states, and operate like small local government entities responsible for supplying and maintaining utilities. New infrastructure would be paid for over time by residents who use it.
“Texas has been a high-growth state like Queensland, very high population growth, but they’ve managed to maintain affordability, where we haven’t,” Elliott said.
“I’m not saying that’s all because of utilities, but it’s been a contributing factor.
“Why aren’t we looking at what they’ve done and trying to learn from that?”
The state government would need to do extensive public consultation before legislating to make the changes possible, Elliott said, but he believed the impact of prices could be substantial.
“We’re not saying we’ve got all the answers. What we’re doing is trying to say, have we thought enough about, you know, making these connections,” he said.
“I have no idea [why development processes haven’t changed]. I really don’t know. That is the $64 million question.”
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
