Page 943 - Week 03 - Thursday, 7 April 2022
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the data from last year. Mr Acting Speaker, if you look at Allhomes, there were nearly 69,000 transactions. To say that it is too expensive and people cannot buy houses is simply refuted by the data.
I will go to Ms Lee’s comments about density. Adding density to our cities is housing supply. It provides a housing option that is more affordable, not just to purchase but to live in. Smaller dwellings are great value for money. They are cheaper and more efficient to heat and to cool; and living close to work, public transport, shops and services reduces travel costs. We see people moving into these.
Rezoning and lease variation contribute to our high- and medium-density housing options in our existing suburbs. As a result, this type of development will not necessarily show up in government land release statistics. Ms Lee may have seen some of this type of development in her own electorate, with an increased number of medium-density options such as townhouses in Braddon, Turner, O’Connor and Dickson.
It is nice to see that Ms Lee and I share the same view that we need more medium-density housing options in our city. Having more of the missing middle, as it is often called in planning circles, will provide a greater range of options for Canberrans to upsize and also downsize their housing, according to their families’ needs.
We also agree that the ACT government should be providing the housing choices that Canberrans want for the future. One thing that has been very clear in much research, whether it is the Winton report, the Housing Choices Collaboration Hub or the Grattan Institute, is that people in Canberra, and right across Australia, are looking for high quality, medium-density housing options in inner and middle suburbs in our cities. These reports consistently find that, when you account for all of the factors that people consider when choosing a home, people prefer high- to medium-density housing options in convenient locations.
The district strategies work in the Planning System Review and Inform Project will identify areas in our city that can accommodate medium-density housing. Given this high level of agreement about our need for more medium-density housing, I look forward to Ms Lee and the opposition strongly supporting these ideas in the district strategies.
I will also look forward to Ms Lee and the opposition providing their support for a range of medium-density options that the government is exploring through the Demonstration Housing Project, such as co-housing and the Manor House. Having a variety of housing choices will allow Canberrans to find the right property for their needs, whether they are a first home buyer, a growing family or a downsizing empty-nester.
With around 65 per cent of our existing housing stock being freestanding, single residential homes, we need to make sure that we are not leaving behind the people that are looking for something smaller and more manageable. Dwellings that have been added to the ACT property market are ahead of population growth, and this has
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