The roll out of legislation after legislation that purports to achieve major reforms in planning continues with Wynne’s latest effort on affordable/social housing. As with the Objector’s Act, the Garden requirements, and the Local Government Review, this latest effort is laughable. Here’s the hyped up media release –
Nothing is mandatory. Nothing forces the developer into any private arrangement with councils. If voluntary, then it will all depend on the dollars the developer sees as coming his way. For example: 12 storeys in Elsternwick and Carnegie is council’s ‘gift’ to the developer in exchange for 20 or perhaps 30 apartments set aside for social housing?
All Wynne has done with this latest legislation is to spell out the income levels that would classify individuals as ‘low’ or ‘average’ income earners and hence make them eligible for ‘affordable/social housing’. It goes nowhere in forcing councils and developers to set aside a reasonable percentage of land within developments to ensure that such housing becomes available.
By way of contrast, this extract from a recent article by ‘The Conversation’ shows what is being done overseas. There is much that could have been achieved if the will was really there.
There are now more than 500 inclusionary planning schemes operating in municipalities across the US. Some require developers to include affordable housing as part of development in a particular zone (usually a fixed percentage of units or floor space).
For example inclusionary planning programs in the city of San Francisco, California (population of around 830,000) generate around 150–250 affordable units per year (around 12% of the city’s total supply).
Other schemes allow variations to planning rules in return for affordable housing. These variations might permit additional density in certain areas or waive certain requirements that would normally apply or expedite the development assessment process.
Other schemes require financial contributions from developers to offset the impact of a project on affordable housing demand or supply.
These programs provide a way for governments to ensure affordable housing for lower income residents even in rapidly gentrifying neighbourhoods.
For those interested in reading the actual legislation and what it states, we’ve uploaded the relevant documents HERE and HERE
Glen Eira Debates 
June 3, 2018 at 1:43 PM
Hard to work out what will actually change. The Media Release is just typical political bombast, government self-promotion paid for by taxpayers. The change has only just come into effect, so we don’t know whether it will deliver any of the claimed benefits.
It could be a response to the VCAT decision that trashed the Incorporated Plan and subsequent Development Plans for “Caulfield Mixed Use Area”, delivering zero social housing despite that being a key requirement in order to secure waivers from various standards and design principles. I don’t support Council’s “net community benefit” waiver in its proposed structure plans either—the benefits are unquantifiable and unenforceable, leaving it open to abuse.
June 3, 2018 at 9:01 PM
Terrific side stepping by Wynne. Neither Labor or the Libs will take on the construction industry and needless to say council won’t either. Abandoning the recent amendment on the mrc tells us all we need to know about who runs the show.
June 4, 2018 at 1:41 AM
Wynne has delivered his developer mates exactly what they paid him to do
The profits in Melbourne and in Glen Eira are huge. We need a royal commission into this building boom.
June 4, 2018 at 3:08 PM
England expects 40% of new housing developments will be affordable, why can’t Australia?
This is a very good question, in my estimation we haven’t even began to have debate here. The number of usual commenters on this blog mostly remain tongue-tied on this issue; just maybe an indication on just how prejudice or how great the mainstream misunderstand is when it comes to providing any type of social safety-net to catch the residents that may need social housing for the many varied reasons they find themselves in.
This can be through sickness in the family, marriage or relational breakdown, loss of employment etc all this can go hand in hand. Often children are involved and secure and safe housing isn’t a luxury it a necessity.
It a crying shame that we in Glen Eira are going through what is likely to be the biggest building boom and wealth generating cycle ever, and we cannot even provide the most rudimental human services that any civilised community should offer. This type of thinking and action isn’t building a better future, it’s building a rat-race.
And what’s even sadder is we have a so called Labor Government in power that has sold out lock stock and barrel to the rats.
Henry Ford the founder of Ford Motors said, what is the use of making a profit if you don’t spend it on improving people’s lives.
June 4, 2018 at 5:15 PM
You really cannot expect developers to put aside profits for affordable housing; that is a state & Fed govt decision that voters will not vote for “not in my patch”. I physically drove past Brighton today and saw affordable housing and I thought why doesn’t the govt sell this valuable real estate to developers and build new affordable houses in Werribee. That way each person would then be able to have a house and 3 bedrooms and not live in high rise that is an eye sore and be reminded everyday that they are poor. You cannot pretend to make expensive bayside property affordable for the poor, Its not utopia guys or dream time, please come back to earth.
June 5, 2018 at 10:09 AM
That’s right stick all your losers out by the sewerage farm, just like flushing your toilet. Such insight is just what I expected to find dead; set prejudice from the middle class want to be’s.
Developers do not pay for, they profit from providing social housing.
June 5, 2018 at 12:37 PM
Billions of dollars is coming into state hands as a result of the building boom. Labor though keeps selling off its estates like Markham to private developers and a small percentage gets built as social housing instead of the entire site being kept in public hands. It is a travesty.
June 6, 2018 at 10:21 AM
Adding more fuel to the fire – https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/developers-profit-from-prime-land-as-thousands-wait-for-public-housing-20180605-p4zjn8.html
June 6, 2018 at 1:20 PM
Well, that says a lot, “too cheaply” I suspect the under the table payments were not included.
Thomas Bent of which Bentleigh is named after, bent by nature and bent by actions, would be grinning like the proberal cheshire cat at these acts of covert corruption in converting public property into private wealth.