A number of housing experts have raised the idea of creating villages and developments akin to retirement villages, that could be delivered if developers were given an incentive.
In an article published by the Sydney Morning Herald, University of Sydney Professor of Urban and Regional Planning Nicole Gurran says political legislation could help ensure a portion of new homes could be reserved solely for first home buyers. She references legislation made by the South Australian government designed to ensure a certain percentage of homes are affordable and attractive to first home buyers.
“Of course we could (have first-home buyer villages). That’s inclusionary zoning and that’s the method used in South Australia and many countries around the world,” she says.
“That means you have to sell those homes at a particular price point that we have defined as affordable that’s based on a deposit and repayments of moderate income earners. It’s not too dissimilar to the approach in retirement housing.
“The benefit is that the first home buyer isn’t priced out immediately by an investor who is able to outbid them."
A number of Sydney councils have aimed to create inclusionary zoning in an attempt to create more affordable housing, but struggle due to state government planning regulations. Another potential way to create more affordable housing is through community land trusts, where the land of a property is owned by a not-for-profit entity and the building owned or leased by the individual. Mirvac’s Pavilions project was the subject of an initiative dubbed The Right Start in 2017, with first home buyers given first chance at snapping up the properties. It has not been replicated by Mirvac or any other developer since.
Urban Taskforce Australia CEO Tom Forrest says a potential increase in affordable housing lies with developer incentives.
“There has to be some sort of reward for doing it. Does it come in the form of increased height, or increased floor-to-space ratio or something that is financially in the interest of the developer? If you limit the sale, you need to make it financially feasible for the developer.”
“That’s the same thing that was done to promote seniors living. It is not a concept out of left field or crazy.
“Where you have bonuses for the production of seniors living, you have had more seniors. They haven’t tried giving additional bonuses for first home buyers.”
Sydney Research Fellow Cameron Murray says state and federal governments could look to take a leaf out of Singapore’s book, where a government body develops on public land and limits buyers to age, income and those who do not own other property, with occupants only able to sell to other eligible buyers. While he says it is not a first home buyer village per se, it is very close in terms of characteristics.
