ASBEC Release Policy Platform on Affordable Housing

Housing is integral to health, wellbeing and economic outcomes for all Australians, and the Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council (ASBEC) has released a new policy platform, Improved Housing Outcomes to address Australia’s housing crisis.

ASBEC defines affordable housing as enabling people to make a housing choice that suits their needs within their available budget -- regardless of whether it involves renting, ownership or having options as they age.

ASBEC outlined the tools they believed necessary to eventually achieve affordable living outcomes.

ASBEC’s members from across the built environment have nominated a package of policy fixes needed to resolve housing affordability issues and deliver high quality, well-designed homes to meet Australia’s diverse needs:

• Strategic planning for accessible centres to link residential concentrations with jobs and services, reducing the costs of transport and vulnerability to social exclusion.Cost effective and timely delivery of urban infrastructure integrated with strategic planning, including: public transport, roads, community facilities and utilities for greenfield and urban infill areas.

• The adoption of best practice design principles to functionally enhance the sustainability and resilience of the built environment, with high quality urban design ensuring creating a sense of place.

• Improved sustainability of buildings, including minimum standards for the energy performance of new and existing buildings, which recognise whole of life costs.

• Continuous reform of land use planning and processes, to encourage supply of diverse housing where it ensures equivalent incentives for detached dwellings and a diversity of medium density housing types that promote design quality and sustainability.

• Ensuring the market operates efficiently to supply housing for all market segments, including the availability of housing stock that meets the needs of very low to moderate income earners.

• Regulatory frameworks that encourage innovation and efficiencies in the housing supply chain, such as modular construction, pre-fabrication and bringing new products to market more cost efficiently.