Committee for Ballarat along with the City of Ballarat and Committees for Cities across the state, (Geelong, Melbourne, Shepparton) attended the State Housing Summit on 5th August. The Premier and Treasurer were the keynote speakers and both positioned housing as a key priority for the government. Further, they highlighted the importance of partnerships with industry as being crucial to achieving the ambitious housing goals and assured participants there will be ongoing dialogue with industry to ensure all opportunities to accelerate housing growth across the state are explored.
The Treasurer assured industry that the government is committed to continuing to deliver the Housing Statement, including land supply plans that balance both infill and Greenfield development. He spoke of unlocking government land for housing developments and the need to speed up planning approvals.
Whilst these initiatives are welcome, the feedback from many in the room was that taxation, the cost of labour and materials and the disincentives for investors are significant barriers to growing housing development activity.