Unlocking housing in Perth’s southern suburbs

With the state’s housing supply crisis remaining firmly in our sights, UDIA WA recently hosted a series of housing supply forums across three of Perth’s major growth regions.

Focusing on the south, north and central subregional growth areas across Perth, UDIA WA’s forums brought key industry and government stakeholders together to discuss the challenges and opportunities involved in delivering much-needed development-ready land for residential housing.

Last week, the spotlight was on the southern growth region, which includes local government areas such as the City of Cockburn, City of Rockingham, City of Mandurah and the Shire of Serpentine Jarrahdale – all of which were represented at our forum.

Discussion at the forum highlighted the significant growth the region has experienced in recent years, and is expected to continue experiencing, with major projects such as Westport, AUKUS, Latitude 32 and the new Mandurah Hospital driving employment and population growth.

According to Urbis Partner Tim Connoley, who presented at the forum, more than 183,000 additional people are expected to live in the region over the next 10 years, with population growth concentrated in Byford, Baldivis and Mandurah.

He said 400-600 new dwellings per year would be required just to satisfy demand driven by the defence industry alone.

Put simply, the region will need a lot more housing over the next five to 10 years to meet demand. This means it is more important than ever for industry and government to work together to ensure housing is delivered efficiently and affordably in the areas it is needed.

Findings from Urban Development Institute of Australia’s National Housing Pipeline research show that while there is land zoned for future urban development in the south metropolitan subregion, there are significant constraints on delivering that land to market for residential housing.

Those constraints include environmental factors, a lack of critical service, transport and social infrastructure, as well as challenges such as fragmented landholdings.

While some environmental constraints mean areas of land will not be developed, infrastructure constraints can be overcome through a coordinated approach to planning, funding and delivery of enabling infrastructure such as power, water and roads.

Forums such as last week’s are an important way for industry and government to build a shared understanding of what is required to support housing delivery, resulting in better outcomes for the wider community when it comes to housing and community creation.