Call for the Aussie dream to move with the times
Housing industry
The traditional Aussie dream of a home on a quarter-acre block will be relegated to history if the Housing Industry Association has its way.
The HIA is campaigning to reduce minimum house-block sizes across the country in order to build more homes quicker.
Under the Douglas Shire planning scheme, the minimum residential house lot size is generally 800sq m for sewered areas and 1000sq m for unsewered.
HIA executive director of planning and development Sam Heckel said reforms were needed to increase the housing supply.
"At a time when governments are struggling to meet ambitious housing targets, many planning schemes continue to impose minimum lot-size requirements that limit housing supply and housing choice,” Mr Heckel said.
"The impact is not just fewer homes.
“Restrictive lot-size controls often prevent the delivery of smaller and more affordable housing options."
Mr Heckel pointed out a new study which found that reducing minimum lot-size requirements in one Australian city increased housing approvals by 67 per cent, with the new builds being mainly townhouses and row housing.
A separate HIA study identified minimum lot-size controls as a major barrier to increasing housing supply and a conservative reduction of minimum lot sizes could reduce the cost of a new home by more than $200,000 through lower land costs alone.