Housing crisis demands a crisis response in state budget
Crisis times require crisis thinking, and more importantly, a crisis-level response to addressing housing supply and affordability, writes Liam Golding.
South Australia is in the grip of a housing crisis. While the government has rightly acknowledged the problem and taken steps to respond, the roadblocks to housing supply remain stubbornly in place.
The upcoming state budget is a critical opportunity for the government to change that trajectory and focus on the fundamentals of housing supply: serviced land, enabling infrastructure, and faster, more predictable approvals.
Importantly, the budget must recognise that delivering serviced land is a partnership. Industry is ready to invest, innovate, and build – but it requires a policy and funding environment that enables rather than constrains.
Measures that support feasibility, such as reviewing charges and contributions, can make marginal projects viable and bring new supply to market sooner.
The time to take this action is now. The state should invest now in the pipes and the processes needed to speed up housing delivery, even if it means going into a short-term deficit to respond to the current crisis.
Building houses has never been harder, and the consequence is that housing now costs more than ever for consumers.
You might like
The response must be to find new and better ways of investing in crucial housing-enabling infrastructure, where the costs are not shouldered by first home buyers and young families.
The cost to put pipes in the ground will only increase over time, so appropriately scaled investment now is saving the state money in the long run, as well as growing our economy faster and bringing forward the duties, rates and taxation that comes from housing development.
The state budget has received roughly $1.5 billion in stamp duty tax windfalls over the past four budgets.
Investing in the fundamentals that drive housing growth is good for housing affordability and is good for revenue for the state budget.
There’s a virtuous cycle that emerges where taxation revenue derived from housing is reinvested into facilitating the delivery of more housing. And the need for investment has been previously identified by government.
Two years ago, upon release of the Housing Roadmap, the government confirmed the urgent need to get more pipes into the ground and acknowledged that part of their consideration of the scale of their investment in new pipes was the fundamental capacity to deliver. With project management reporting that the government is meeting all its delivery timelines, the ambition for future delivery should be greater.
Stay informed, daily
Continued price escalations and buoyant demand towards the affordable end of the Adelaide market (despite external shocks in the form of interest rate rises and the oil crisis) show supply continues to lag significantly.
The state budget is a tremendous opportunity to solve the housing crisis while investing in the future of our state.
When faced with the global financial crisis in the late 00’s, the crisis response was considerable. In addition to financial stimulus, red tape was cut with the state instituting a coordinator general to speed up approvals and to help the emergency investment generate economic activity faster.
Faster approvals where we have the capacity to build are another lever we should be pulling as part of the crisis response.
Industry reports far too much time, effort and money is being expended in the approval stage, with housing projects being turned upside down by repeat delays in engineering, planning and other consents.
While reforms have improved parts of the system, delays persist, particularly for complex or large-scale developments. Clearer timelines, better resourcing of assessment bodies, and a continued commitment to cutting red tape will ensure that projects do not stall at critical stages.
The development industry is ready to build. There is also a strong economic case for action.
Investment in enabling infrastructure not only unlocks housing but also drives jobs, productivity, and broader economic growth. Every new community creates opportunities for local businesses, construction workers, and service providers.
In this sense, housing delivery is not a cost, but an investment in South Australia’s future prosperity. UDIA SA and industry stand ready to deliver. The question is whether the government will step up to enable it and unlock housing supply at the scale the crisis demands.
Want to see more stories from InDaily SA in your Google search results?
- Click here to set InDaily SA as a preferred source.
- Tick the box next to "InDaily SA". That's it.
