Housing Affordability Fund
The Housing Affordability Fund is a five year, $512 million investment by the Australian Government that will help to reduce the cost of new homes for home-buyers. The Fund seeks to address two significant barriers to the supply of housing:
holding costs incurred by developers/home purchasers due to lengthy planning/development assessment processes
infrastructure costs such as water, sewerage, roads and open space which are often passed onto developers (and in turn new home buyers) by local and state government
The Fund is administered by the Australian Government’s Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs.
Housing Affordability Programme, Queensland
In 2008, a collaborative proposal from the Council of Mayors (SEQ), the Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) and the Queensland Government’s Department of Infrastructure and Planning (DIP) was submitted to the Housing Affordability Fund.
The proposal outlined three key projects aimed at addressing the tools, processes and policies relating to housing affordability in Queensland. These projects are:
Next Generation Planning (NGP)
Sponsored by the Council of Mayors (SEQ), NGP received an allocation of $1.1 million to create standard housing related development policies & codes for SEQ councils.
Target 5 Days (T5)
Sponsored by the Council of Mayors (SEQ), T5 received an allocation of $3.9 million to reform the development application processes within SEQ councils to reduce approval timeframes, including a five day approval timeframe for complying low risk applications.
Electronic Development Assessment (HAF-eDA)
Sponsored by the LGAQ, HAF-eDA received an allocation of $6.47 million to deliver electronic development assessment tools to 19 high growth councils across Queensland.
For more information on the Housing Affordability Programme, click here or contact the team at haf@lgaq.asn.au.
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