Queensland councils have welcomed the Productivity Commission’s recommendation for an independent review of the infrastructure charging regime to support the delivery of more housing across the state.
In its Interim Report into Opportunities to Improve Productivity of the Construction Industry released today, the Queensland Productivity Commission recommends an independent review of the infrastructure charging regime to make sure the pipes, roads, and playgrounds get built to unlock more housing.
The Interim Report proposes a reform program to improve productivity across the industry. The Commission makes 21 preliminary recommendations and identifies 12 directions for reform, focused on four key areas:
- Reforming government procurement: ‘There are opportunities to rationalise the current suite of Queensland Government procurement policies, including through the permanent removal of the Best Practice Industry Conditions, and to improve project selection, sequencing and contracting.’
- Improving land use regulation: ‘There are opportunities to improve the operation of the housing market by reducing unnecessary regulation of building form, streamlining approvals processes and undertaking reforms to increase opportunities for development, with a focus on increasing density.‘
- Improving the regulation of building activity: ‘There are opportunities to improve regulation under the National Construction Code, financial regulations and the operation of workplace health and safety regulation, as well as removing regulatory barriers to modern methods of construction.‘
- Improving labour market operation: ‘Given labour market shortages across the economy, it will be challenging to increase the construction labour force. However, there are opportunities to improve its operation through reforms to occupational licensing and reconsidering the requirement for labour hire licensing.‘
The LGAQ says it has analysed figures from Local Government Infrastructure Plans across 35 councils and the Queensland Government Statisticians Office statewide and found councils have zoned enough land for almost 580,000 broadhectare dwellings and more than one million additional infill homes.
Combined, councils have zoned for more than 1.5 million new homes, which if acted on by industry would make a massive difference to Queensland’s housing crisis, proof the current community-led planning system was working to unlock land for homes, said LGAQ President, Matt Burnett.
“We all know there is a huge challenge to get roofs over heads but these figures are proof that councils are more than doing their job to help facilitate more houses, townhouses and units being built,” he said.
“The other good news is that the figures show a real mix of property options to suit each community as they see fit -both broadhectare land for greenfield development and also infill lots in already developed areas.
“As the Productivity Commission interim report points out, there is no simple solution to creating more homes but the analysis shows there is plenty of land zoned for developers to bring to market and builders to build on.
“When the figures show year after year that more land is being zoned and approved than is being brought to market, it is also proof that Queensland’s system of housing approvals where local residents and communities have a say through their councils is not slowing down land supply.”
LGAQ chief executive officer, Alison Smith said councils across Queensland recognised housing as one of the most significant challenges facing community liveability.
“Years ago councils were among the first to raise the alarm about Queensland’s housing crisis because – as the level of government closest to communities – they were the first to see the families living in cars and jobs going unfilled because workers had nowhere to live,” Ms Smith said.
“Councils have worked hard to zone the land according to what best serves their communities, and both current and future residents.
“This bank of zoned land is proof the current system of local, council and community decision-making works and needs to remain as the foundation of our planning system.
“When councils have zoned almost 580,000 broadhectare dwellings and industry delivered just 15,176 new lots last year, and councils have zoned for more than 1 million infill homes while just over 10,000 units and townhouses were built last year, the solution to the housing problem is to get the development and construction sectors the support they need – including trunk infrastructure funding, training pathways and sector growth – to get on with delivering more homes.
“Planning responsibilities need to remain with the councils responsible to the communities where the housing is being built.”
Ms Smith said the LGAQ would continue to engage with the inquiry, with the final report due on October 24.
Queensland Productivity Commissioner, Angela Moody, thanked Queenslanders who attended stakeholder meetings and provided submissions to the inquiry.
Ms Moody said the Interim Report found that the state’s construction industry faced multiple challenges including constrained supply chains, availability of capital, legislative and policy changes, investment priorities, timeframes and changing demographics.
“Generally, one or two issues can be managed by consumers, industry and/or government,” Ms Moody said.
“In the case of the current Queensland construction industry, several of these factors have become or are long-standing intractable issues. Moreover, what makes the current environment notable is that almost all these factors are occurring at the same time.
“If Queensland is to meet its housing and infrastructure needs, productivity across the industry will need to improve.
“Although there are solutions, the pathway to better productivity will not be easy or immediate. There are no silver bullets, and improving matters will take concerted effort to restore confidence and enable investment in the housing and other infrastructure we need. However, as demonstrated through the initial round of consultation, there is broad commitment amongst stakeholders to find a way forward.
“The Commission is now seeking stakeholder feedback on the proposed reform program before we prepare our final report for the Queensland Government,” she said.
