Some real ideas on unaffordable housing

[Grace McCaughey]

We need to get real, me must be totally  honest with ourselves, we simply have to ignore the many vested interests. 

All we have to do is simply what is necessary to get to the root causes of housing inaffordability. 

Some will be hurt. Many will disagree.

But please learn to lead in the best interests of everybody.

Grace McCaughey

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/aleksandra-krug%C5%82y-31a0ab252_vacant-activity-7349349673104502785-cYoQ?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_android&rcm=ACoAACJGgLgBLEfbrY_pQmJBFlNcAVzTw-hDoMo 

[organicinvestm...@gmail.com]

Really interesting in the Kimberleys and Northern QLD.  The housing is basic and affordable.  And sometimes mobile/moveable.

We need to change the way we look at housing as an asset - and start to see it as an important part of humanity.

Sigh.

[Steph Zannakis]

Carol,

The 'relocatable' aspect is standard in many/most 'over 50s' rurally located retirement villages in most States of Australia. 

In fact there are substantial planning/development, fee and zoning use concessions for developing up to 50 small homes, 2 and 3 bedrooms, specifically for the aged people in our society. These concessions come with a requirement to provide at least one building, dedicated to common use, and a bus to enable residents to access nearby services and townships etc, all on a single rural use title. If you have an aged family member, you may have first hand experience to how much this model is finely tuned for profit.

Try to open a conversation with a government employed planner regarding the approval process for a rural relocatable home development open to all ages, including the same or more communal services (aka. regenerative cohousing village), you'll get worse than crickets. A flat out NO that isn't possible under the current planning laws, unless your site is directly adjacent to suburbia (the most cost prohibitive land available, likely already owned by a developer). Include a regenerative farm with an industrial kitchen, so the community can value add to produce, you will be told you are crazy and the planning scheme can only support one activity, 'farming, inc. tight housing restrictions' or a well documented 'material change of use' to a selected number of use types. Residential and Rural Use are incompatible. Obtaining planning permission to develop a quarry or mine or shooting range in rural use zoning is far easier.

While we have handed over the development of our housing to the big developers, supported in planning law, lobbied for by the HIA, the for profit motive only narrows and tightens the planning scheme of all states towards large tracks of suburbia and urban infill. And fair enough, no-one enjoys the prospect of for profit developers of doing anything they want, particularly in our neighbourhood or worse, next door. Welcome to the chaos of 'developing countries'.

Until a 'not for profit' planning assessment scheme is developed for 'non-government organisations', we are forced to find the loopholes or only work in states that still have a 'Multiple Occupancy' law. 

Best Australian contemporary example of affordable regenerative housing development I know of....  A CLT model type, in action?

https://afterleevillage.au/join/

I would be excited if there were any conversation around this view....   a doctorate of research in the direction of viable economic CLT regenerative models would be super exciting! What do you mob think?

Louise, any prospects? I'm actually serious....

How do we develop planning pathways to enable authentic 'for community benefit (N4P) cooperatively owned rurally based CLTs'? 

Perhaps with that model in law we could then transform the Australian housing market in 20+ years, like in the northern Scandinavian countries with 30% of housing now cooperatively owned and no affordability issues. I hear their governments supplied 20% deposits and government backed development loans for Cooperative projects to compete in the development market.

We might even start to prove cohousing scale regenerative farms can measurably sequester more carbon than the community emits. Another top 10 goal of the world?

Love to hear the collective's thoughts,

Steph

BTW, I'm not in any way affiliated with Afterlee ecovillage. 

I am an architecturally trained, word of mouth practicing green building designer/builder looking at the prospect of undertaking a housing project there...  and I currently live in the Sunshine Coast, Qld, 5hr drive away. How far I'm willing to go for the right work. Perhaps I'll be trucking a prefab project, rather than commuting. 

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