Supporting affordable housing supply: inclusionary planning in new and renewing communities

Abstract

This study examined how planning mechanisms support affordable housing supply in Australia and overseas. In England 43 per cent of affordable housing built in 2015–16 (12,866 units) were delivered due to inclusionary planning requirements, while more than 500 cities in the United States have inclusionary zoning or impact fee requirements to supply affordable housing. In Australia planning systems can support affordable housing supply, but additional funding or subsidy is usually required to produce homes affordable to those on low and very low incomes.

Hidden homes? Uncovering Sydney’s informal housing market

“…Housing advocates advised that new generation boarding houses often provide high quality accommodation for international students but are rarely affordable to those on low incomes. Recent studies have raised wider questions around the affordability of secondary dwelling units and new boarding house rooms produced under the Affordable Rental Housing State Environmental Planning Policy 2009 (Gurran et al, 2018 ;Troy et al, 2018a).…”

“…This policy of 'formalised informality' (Harris 2018: 273) has enabled a steady increase in secondary dwellings and 'boarding houses' (micro studio units) in Sydney since 2009, under Affordable Rental Housing State Environmental Planning Policy 2009, overriding local planning constraints. At least 10,100 secondary dwelling units were approved between 2008/2009 and 2014/2015, roughly equivalent to around 5% of the city's total new housing supply over the same period (Gurran et al, 2018).…”

“…As a form of longer term rental accommodation the appropriateness of the housing form is unclear, with the implied stigma associated with living in a 'secondary' dwelling unit, often without a defined street address or separate entrance, as well as concerns around privacy and conflicts arising in relation to shared garden spaces. (Gurran et al, 2018;Troy et al, 2018a).…”

“…It is an important case in which to examine informality in housing markets because of the explicit policy efforts geared towards supporting diverse and higher density housing supply. The main responses seeking to improve housing affordability in Sydney have been to encourage more housing production across the market, including more diverse dwelling types such as high-density apartments, micro rental units and secondary dwellings attached to or situated behind a primary home (Gurran et al, 2018 ). Despite this supply response, the private rental market remains inaccessible for low-income households, with a declining social housing stock.…”

Divergence in planning for affordable housing: A comparative analysis of England and Portugal

“…However, the use of planning obligations for affordable housing has had a mixed reception in England. Some seem to see it as a useful mechanism to tax the windfall gains that result from discretionary planning decisions for the public benefit, to address a locally assessed "affordability gap" that otherwise would have needed to be funded through the public purse (Crook, & Whitehead, 2019;Austin et al, 2014, Helbrecht, & Weber-Newth, 2018, Gurran et al 2018, Hansson, 2017, Hansson, & Lundgren, 2019. Meanwhile others see it as a pressure mechanism set by central government to encourage local planning authorities to grant planning permission even where proposals are not necessarily generating the expected qualitative results.…”