South Australia is ahead of the game when it comes to tackling the national housing crisis, with the Malinauskas Labor Government already implementing several recommendations from a national housing report.
The Business Council of Australia (BCA) today released the "It's time to say yes to housing" report.
BCA has described South Australia as the best place in the nation to do business and the report recognised SA has the best planning system in Australia, ranked number one in the nation thanks to its speed, efficiency and transparency.
"South Australia is an exemplar in this area, given its single state-wide planning scheme."
The report acknowledged the government's recent development reforms which no longer requires planning approvals for new houses in master planned, greenfield developments.
The BCA report hasn't factored in the significant action and planning reforms already being implemented in South Australia through the Premier's Housing Roadmap.
Key recommendations already being implemented in SA include:
- Record land release
- Privately led code amendments to rezone land
- Single planning system across the entire state
- A new Coordinator General role to assess major projects
- Created the new "super" housing portfolio – the Department for Housing and Urban Development
- Record $1.5 billion investment in water and sewer infrastructure to support greenfield developments
- Strict time limits on Councils to assess new developments and land division
- A land supply dashboard to improve transparency for development ready land
- Scrapped stamp duty on new builds for all first homebuyers
- $2.3 billion total funding for skills and training over five years in partnership with Federal Government
It's further proof the Malinauskas Labor Government is on the right path to addressing the housing crisis.
Recent survey results from the Property Council of Australia and Procore, found South Australia's leading the nation for confidence in the property sector.
This follows similar results with SA number one in the Housing Industry Association (HIA) Housing Scorecard.
And South Australia's economy has also topped the nation for the past three consecutive quarters in CommSec's State of the States report, buoyed by the top ranking for construction work and dwelling starts.
South Australia's innovative approach to addressing the housing crisis is being noticed on the national stage, with the Federal opposition adopting plans previously announced by the Malinauskas Labor Government.
At the Premier's Housing Roadmap, the State Government revealed a record $1.5 billion investment to expand the water and sewer network to enable housing in greenfield developments and gave a commitment to the building industry there will be no further changes to the NCC in SA for the next decade.
This is important recognition of the work the State Government is doing to increase the supply of new homes, spearheaded by the 114 initiatives unveiled through the Housing Roadmap.
Within the first 100 days following the Housing Roadmap, the first water pipes were already being installed to expand the water and sewer network across the northern growth front.
The government has also implemented more than a dozen initiatives from the Housing Roadmap, such as introducing a nation first infrastructure scheme, created a builders panel for small government led projects and accelerated the draft Greater Adelaide Regional Plan, with consultation currently open.
As put by Nick Champion
In every major housing and construction report, South Australia is leading the nation.
Housing is a key priority for this Government and this BCA report is further recognition the actions we are taking will help tackle the housing crisis.
South Australia is ahead of the game and it's good to see the Federal Opposition is taking notice of what we are doing and following our lead.
Through planning reforms and initiatives from the Housing Roadmap, we are making it easier and faster to build homes in South Australia.
The Malinauskas Labor Government will continue to work with industry partners to develop new initiatives to increase the housing supply for South Australians.
