Page 2882 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 24 June 2009
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improving housing affordability is not just about handouts but is about ensuring that supply meets demand, that there is a diversity of housing products to suit every type of housing need and that there is an efficient and responsive public and community housing sector.
The ACT affordable housing action plan includes a range of measures to help households on modest incomes and those Canberrans who have previously been locked out of homeownership. The ACT affordable housing policy, and action to implement that policy, is of critical importance in increasing community and individual wellbeing and attracting and sustaining a diverse Canberra community.
In the two years since its announcement, actions against all of the 62 initiatives have been taken. While all of the initiatives are helping to add to more affordable housing for Canberrans, I would like to specifically highlight just a few. The ACT affordable housing strategy, a nation-leading strategy still yet to be rivalled by other jurisdictions, acknowledged the extreme impact that a shortage in land supply can have on affordability.
We have sought to ensure that supply of land meets the demand for new housing. In 2007-08, land supply strategy in the ACT was accelerated from a target of 2,400 dwelling sites to 3,400 sites. This target was the largest residential land release program set in the territory since self-government. By 30 June 2008 the government had exceeded this target and had released 3,470 dwelling sites. In April 2008 this government published a five-year land release program which set a target of 4,208 residential dwelling sites to be released in 2008-09. The program also set a target of an average annual release of 3,100 dwelling sites for the remaining four years of the program. It is expected that the 2008-09 target of 4,208 sites will be exceeded.
The residential land release program published in May this year proposes a release target of 3,014 dwelling sites in 2009-10 and an average annual increase of 3,194 sites for the balance of the program. This accelerated release of residential land will be maintained until there is an appropriate inventory of serviced land available for purchase. In addition to accelerating land supply, the government has recognised the importance of continuing to monitor supply and demand to ensure that the land release program always appropriately addresses the demand for new housing in the future.
The land release program is not only offering releases through the Land Development Agency, where land is now available over the counter from the Land Development Agency, but also through joint venture projects and englobo releases. In fact, we have seen recently an extremely successful englobo release, including a significant amount of affordable housing in west Macgregor. All new land releases in the ACT are now required to deliver at least 15 per cent affordable house and land packages to ensure that the supply of affordable housing is increased for Canberrans.
The ACT affordable housing action plan seeks not only to make sure that we have enough land to meet the demand for new homes; it goes another step further by seeking out new and innovative ways to help more people access a home of their own. The ACT does not shy away from any new ideas or from being the first to try a new
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