Thousands of new house lots and three new suburbs will be fast-tracked in Melton as part of a state government plan to make housing more affordable in Melbourne’s growth corridors.
As part of a pilot program to encourage developers to provide “inclusionary” housing in new developments, the government has also promised to deliver 100 affordable houses on government land in growth council areas.
Rezoning across Melbourne’s growth councils will help enable the creation of more than 100,000 house lots, ultimately creating 17 new suburbs.
The government has pledged to plan for key services, infrastructure and amenities in these suburbs, which include Kororoit, Mt Atkinson and Plumpton.
The city’s north will experience the largest growth, with seven new suburbs expected to be created.
The state government says median Melbourne land prices are about half those in Sydney and that these land releases will help maintain that gap.
Treasurer Tim Pallas said the increase in housing supply would boost jobs in the construction industry and create jobs in growth corridors and established suburbs.
Planning Minister Richard Wynne said the inclusionary housing pilot project would create 100 new social housing homes and help some of the state’s most vulnerable people.
“This is all about ensuring there is plenty of new housing coming to market to suit the varied needs of Victorian families, stay ahead of population growth and make new homes as affordable as possible,” Mr Wynne said.
Opposition planning spokesman David Davis told reporters last week the government was not adding enough housing to Melbourne.
“By the time these developments are ready, our population will probably be another 150,000 or more,” Mr Davis said.
Streamlining for Growth, a plan to make it easier for developers to subdivide land and speed up planning applications, will be extended for three years.
The state government says cutting red tape will ensure planning projects can progress without unnecessary hold ups.
In the past financial year, Melton council received 466 planning applications, with the average time taken to determine applications being 63 days. The average wait time at other growth councils in the same period was 95 days, according to the Know Your Council website.
In a bid to ensure inefficiencies and unnecessary delays are identified and rectified, Melton council recently received $50,000 from the Victorian Planning Authority to review its planning application processes.
