Tackling the housing affordability challenge
The dream of home ownership has become increasingly challenging for many first home buyers in Australia particularly those looking to buy in Sydney and Melbourne. We believe a suite of measures is required to unlock housing supply and address affordability, and we have committed to partnering with government and industry to drive sustainable solutions. Stockland is leading the industry in delivering housing for first home buyers, and in the past 12 months we have sold more than 4,000 lots to first home buyers across the country.
In Sydney, we announced with the NSW Minister for Planning and Minister for Housing that we will prioritise the availability of 50 per cent of land releases and townhomes to first home buyers across our three major masterplanned communities in Sydney, with a particular focus on the next 100 days. This innovative ‘100 Homes in 100 Days’ initiative gives first home buyers priority to purchase land and build a new family home from $650,000 in Sydney’s north-west and south-west growth centres.
In Melbourne, we welcomed the announcement made by the Treasurer and Planning Minister at our Cloverton community, that the Victorian Government is taking steps to streamline approval processes and the rezone 100,000 new lots for residential development within two years. Both these measures are equally important to expedite the supply of new homes to further improve affordability.
In addition, our townhouse developments are offering customers affordable and low maintenance homes. Townhouses will play an increasingly important role in housing affordability and the gentrification and densification of Australia’s major cities.