22 JULY 2024
The federal budget released in May saw the government introduce measures to address the current housing crisis. The government had previously set a goal of building 1.2 million homes across the county over the next five years. This budget allocated some additional funds for building the infrastructure to enable this new housing.
The government plans to release 20,000 fee-free TAFE places to address the current skills shortage in the construction sector. In addition, they are fast-tracking 1,900 skilled visas for overseas workers trained in the construction industry. The budget also sees the government encouraging universities to increase their supply of student housing, freeing up properties in surrounding suburbs for home buyers and adding more rental properties onto the market for local families.
There is also extra assistance for low-income renters, with a 10% increase in Commonwealth Rent Assistance, which will benefit almost one million households. Unfortunately, first-home buyers were overlooked. The Help to Buy scheme, a significant policy announcement going into the last election, is still being held up in Parliament, with no mention of any changes or additional schemes to assist.
We think the budget has some good long-term initiatives, but we question whether more could be done in the short term to address the housing crisis and the cost of living.
Meanwhile, the NSW Government has committed to delivering 377,000 ‘well-located’ homes across the state by 2029. As part of this, Newcastle is slated to get 11,100 new homes (plus 8,000 for Lake Macquarie) by 2029. This is more than double the number completed during the five years from 2017 to 2022.
The easiest way to achieve these targets is to allow multi-storey apartment buildings to be built on re-zoned land around train stations across Newcastle and Lake Macquarie. More precisely, the NSW Government has increased proposed height limits to allow developers to apply to build eight-story buildings within 400 metres of selected train stations, including Adamstown, Newcastle Interchange, Hamilton and Kotara. This makes a lot of sense but will make many uncomfortable as the sleepy nature of many of our suburbs is likely to change.
Separately, further information was released regarding the Broadmeadow Place Strategy.
This precinct is a mammoth 313 hectares centred around Broadmeadow and sections of Hamilton, Hamilton East, Hamilton North, and New Lambton. If it gets off the ground, it will be a 30-year plan to transform the current Broadmeadow sporting and entertainment precinct into a dynamic community hub.
According to council records, the goal is to create 15,000 new jobs in the city. The plan provides for green space, an indoor arena, an aquatic centre, entertainment and restaurant spaces, and other new community amenities across the zone. The Broadmeadow Place Strategy aims to build up to 20,000 new homes for 40,000 new residents by 2054. The plan is to have a mix of affordable, social, and diverse housing, including medium and high-density zones, and apartment buildings up to 30 storeys high.
This sounds like a pretty awesome proposal. But as always, the devil will be in the details. Given the local backlash against the removal of the train line or the V8s in Newcastle, we are sure this won’t exactly be smooth sailing.
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