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Morrison calls for removal of red tape to improve housing affordability

Monday, 24 Oct 2016 05:15:37 | Caitlyn Gribbin

A for sale sign outside a house in Brisbane on April 9 2014. (ABC News: Nic MacBean)

Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison will today push for states and territories to remove unnecessary land planning regulations to increase the supply of housing.

Mr Morrison will use the lunchtime speech to the Urban Development Institute of Australia to address the issue of booming house prices in Australia.

In an advance copy of the address provided by his office, Mr Morrison conceded the housing market was "getting away from people".

"No matter how hard they work or save or even earn, they are finding it harder and harder to get into the market," the speech excerpts said.

"Housing in Australia, especially in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, is expensive and increasingly unaffordable, but that does not mean it is over valued.

"Improving housing affordability right across the housing spectrum must therefore be a key policy goal for Governments at all levels, including the Commonwealth."

Mr Morrison will also flag the Coalition's intention to target state planning regulations.

"The Government will therefore also be discussing with the states the potential to remove residential land use planning regulations that unnecessarily impede housing supply and are not in the broader public interest.

"This will be the strong focus of my discussions at the next Council on Federal Financial Relations that I will convene in early December."

He will point to "supply-side" constraints that are preventing people from owning a house, including "complex land planning and development regulation; insufficient land release; the planning, cost and availability of infrastructure provision; transaction and betterment taxes, public attitudes towards urban infill; and, for Sydney in particular, physical geographic constraints".

State governments could do a "great deal to improve planning processes and the provision of infrastructure", Mr Morrison will argue.

The Treasurer will also highlight that capital city prices have grown more rapidly than the rest of the country.

"Sydney price growth has been greater than all the other capitals, followed closely by Melbourne.

"In Sydney and Melbourne prices have risen around 65 per cent and 40 per cent, respectively, since their early 2012 lows.

"Perth and Darwin ... have fallen by up to seven per cent after very strong increases fuelled by the mining boom."

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