From the CEO
I no longer have a spare bedroom.
About 18 months ago, we ‘downsized’ from a four bedroom property in one of those ‘urban sprawl’ suburbs to a three bedroom property in Melville. We still have two teenagers who are unlikely to leave home until their 30s at this rate. This move solved a number of problems in my mind.
I now have a solid reason for why certain family members can’t stay at our house. There’s no room for that gym equipment that never got used, oh well. It saves me a few days a year for having to clean out the spare bedroom because it is the collection point for all things we want to hoard and worry about later.
Yesterday, the latest report by the BankWest Curtin Economics Centre revealed a whopping 1.45 million spare bedrooms across WA. I wonder how many of them are like our old spare bedroom, or are genuinely required for accommodating transient visitors. The challenge is of course, many of us would be hesitant to rent out that spare bedroom to a relative stranger or even someone we know. So the only alternative is to right-size assuming we don’t genuinely need the room and free up the house for someone who can fill it with more bodies.
To facilitate this, there is the age-old stamp duty argument which seemingly requires a crazy brave government to tackle and we are yet to see one of those. The other issue I find interesting that hasn’t really been tackled is the role of valuation & finance in the consumer decision making process, where over years we have been conditioned to think that with the extra bedroom we will have better ‘resale’ value so best we go bigger. And then of course the well-known challenge of not having much choice to downsize into, given the vast majority of our housing stock is three bedrooms or more.
We human beings are quite an adaptable bunch when we are forced to change. It is worth considering what role the industry, together with government can play in both consumer education and how we shift the dial in our product mix to accommodate the rapidly growing single parent family and single person household. Plus rethinking our taxation and regulatory environment to ensure it prioritises not penalises delivery of this outcome.
Just because we can have something doesn’t mean we need it. Spare bedrooms included.
UDIA WA CEO
Tanya Steinbeck
Community Enabling Infrastructure Stream Open for Applications
UDIA WA has been advised that the Community Enabling Infrastructure Stream (CEI Stream – formerly referred to as Stream 2) of the Housing Support Program (HSP) is now open for applications from state, territory and local government authorities.
The Australian Government’s HSP is one of a range of programs designed to help achieve the National Housing Accord’s target of building 1.2 million new, well-located homes over five years from 1 July 2024.
The aim of the HSP is to support the delivery of increased housing supply by funding projects that seek to deliver enabling infrastructure, provide amenities to support new housing development or improve building planning capability.
Successful projects under Stream 1 (HSP 1) were also announced by the Prime Minister, Minister King and Minister Collins. A full list is available on the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts website here. Applicants will receive individual advice on their applications in the near future.
The CEI Stream will provide funding for infrastructure projects that support new housing by removing barriers to housing construction by delivering enabling infrastructure and community amenities.
Examples of eligible construction (enabling infrastructure and community amenities) projects could include, but are not limited to:
- construction of new or upgrade of existing roads to support new housing development(s), not including roads which are listed on the National Land Transport Network
- construction or installation of new or upgrade or augmentation of existing, utilities to support new housing development(s);
- works which will eliminate or mitigate a risk to new residential properties from natural disasters such as bushfire, flood, storm and storm surge, cyclone, earthquake, or act of the sea; and
- construction of amenities for new housing development(s) such as parks, common outdoor spaces, etc.
The Program Guidelines, Frequently Asked Questions, Application Form and Successful Applicant Guide can be found at: Housing Support Program | Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts.
Applications are to be submitted by email to PPDHousingSupportBranch@infrastructure.gov.au by 5pm AEST on Friday 16 August 2024.
Erin Cassie from The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and Arts will be hosting a Webinar at 3.00pm AEST 17 July 2024 to answer any questions on CEI Stream. Please RSVP to PPDHousingSupportBranch@infrastructure.gov.au and a meeting invite will be forwarded.
A joint media release from the Prime Minister, the Hon Anthony Albanese MP, the Hon Catherine King MP, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, and the Hon Julie Collins MP, Minister for Housing, Homelessness and Small Business, announcing the opening of the CEI Stream can be found here.
Become an expert in application preparation
A new EnviroDevelopment Advanced Training course will take place next week to assist all those looking to submit a new EnviroDevelopment application or anyone seeking to expand their EnviroDevelopment knowledge.
This new online course will take place on Tuesday 16 July and will hear directly from the EnviroDevelopment team on the application process and how to build a successful application.
The session will explore the ins-and-outs of responding to the criteria and the types of supporting documentation required to finalise your application.
Don’t miss this opportunity to learn how to perfect your next EnviroDevelopment application.
For more information and to register, click here. Registration is free for EnviroDevelopment members and $75 for non-members,
New Dates Released for UDIA WA’s Built Form Development Course!
Registrations for the next intake of UDIA WA’s Built Form Development Course, perfect for anyone already working in, or interested in working in, the built form sector, are now open.
Tailored to our local development industry, it is the only course of its kind in WA and is perfect for anyone looking to enhance their knowledge across the end-to-end process of residential built form development, this 2-day course covers all the practical elements that are entailed.
Whether you’re currently involved in development management, planning, design, marketing and sales, or development assessment and approvals associated with residential built form development, or you want to know more about what more about what goes into creating great projects, this course is for you!
Delivered by the highly regarded industry specialist, Danielle Davison, this course will be brought to life with real world examples and life lessons.
For more information and to book your place, click here.
City of Canning Design Review Panel Members 2024-25 Expressions of Interest
The City of Canning is seeking expressions of interest from suitably qualified and experienced consultants to join the City’s new Design Review Panel as a Panel Member or as the Chairperson for a two-year term.
The term of office for current members is coming to an end in October with the City looking for interested parties to apply for the next two-year term in office.
Meeting monthly, the Design Review Panel is responsible for reviewing development applications and providing independent expert design advice to the City, and development applicants, on the design quality and site planning of significant developments from commercial buildings to mixed developments, community spaces, and everything in between.
For more information, including details of the selection criteria and nomination requirements, click here.
Outlook 2024 Quiz Night!
It’s that time again! Gather your colleagues and come on down to Nowhereman Brewing Co. for another Outlook Quiz Night!
Register your table and compete in the mental arena to demonstrate the breadth of your knowledge from brain teasers to general knowledge and pop culture trivia.
For more information and to register click here.
A big thanks to Outlook Partners Parcel Property and UPD for supporting this event.
Get ready to celebrate excellence
Keep an eye on your inboxes for the new edition of the 2024 Nominated Projects booklet set to be released in the next few weeks which details all the incredible entries into the 2024 UDIA WA Awards for Excellence.
Now in its 29th year, our prestigious Awards recognises the Best in the West with this year’s Awards set to be no exception with a bumper number of entries across 18 categories including our 2 new categories this year: Local Government of the Year and Team of the Year.
Keep an eye on your emails for details of all nominated projects along with details of how to register tickets for the industry’s night of nights the Awards for Excellence Gala Dinner, set to be released in the coming days. A big thanks to 2024 Platinum Sponsor Western Australian Planning Commission, Gold Sponsors Lavan and Stantec and Category Sponsors Slick Design, Wormall Civil, nbn, Longreach Recruitment, Taylor Burrell Barnett, Stockland and ATCO for supporting this year’s Awards for Excellence.