❓ Mr Britza asks about the Housing Industry Forecasting Group's report and the government's response to housing issues. The Minister outlines the report's findings, highlighting increased construction and ongoing affordability challenges, and details the government's affordable housing strategy achievements.
AnsweredQoN 714Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
HOUSING INDUSTRY FORECASTS
714. Mr I.M. BRITZA to the Minister for Housing:
I understand the Housing —
Mr M.P. Murray interjected.
The
SPEAKER : I have reasonably good hearing skills up here, member for
Collie–Preston. I formally call you to order for the third time today.
I do not need to hear from you again.
Mr
I.M. BRITZA : I understand the Housing Industry Forecasting Group has
released its latest forecast for the housing sector in Western Australia. Could
the minister please summarise the group's findings and explain how the
government is responding to this vital and important issue?
714. Mr I.M. BRITZA to the Minister for Housing:
I understand the Housing —
Mr M.P. Murray interjected.
The
SPEAKER : I have reasonably good hearing skills up here, member for
Collie–Preston. I formally call you to order for the third time today.
I do not need to hear from you again.
Mr
I.M. BRITZA : I understand the Housing Industry Forecasting Group has
released its latest forecast for the housing sector in Western Australia. Could
the minister please summarise the group's findings and explain how the
government is responding to this vital and important issue?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Morley for
the question. No doubt the member is well aware of the housing challenges in
his electorate, and will be intimately over this government's response
to meeting those challenges. I also support his advocacy for what we are trying
to achieve in those areas.
For members who are not aware, every
October the Housing Industry Forecasting Group puts out an annual report. The
group is made up of representatives from government as well as industry bodies,
including the Real Estate Institute of WA, the Housing Industry Association,
the Master Builders Association and the chambers of commerce. The group puts
out in its annual report what it sees as a forecast of land supply and dwelling
commencements in Western Australia. The report came out only recently; I
announced it at a breakfast function. The report shows that some consumer
confidence is coming back into the marketplace. There are signs of recovery.
The group expects something like a 20 per cent increase in new housing
construction in 2012–13. That is a good thing, because housing employs
a lot of people in the community and is also a significant contributor to the
state's economy. The annual report also says that affordable housing is
still a major issue. That is no surprise to anybody. Right across the housing
continuum, from social housing to affordable rentals to affordable purchasers
to the open market, there is a certain amount of stress within the marketplace.
This government's response is the affordable housing strategy, with a
range of measures to assist people, wherever they are in that housing
continuum, to deliver an outcome that suits them and to put in place strategies
to improve the affordable housing issue.
It is appropriate at this time to talk a little about what
the government has done. With social housing, in this term of government we
have delivered twice as many social houses in half the time the last government
did in its eight-year term. As a simple key performance indicator, that is a
pretty good measure of our performance against the former government's.
In terms of private rentals, there will be 6 000 new affordable rentals by 2016
through the national rental affordability scheme. Under royalties for regions,
significant funds have gone into Government Regional Officers' Housing
in the regions to service workers' accommodation, particularly in the
north where we know there are acute housing stresses. In terms of homeownership
and the Keystart shared equity scheme—the expression-of-interest
process we went through with the private sector—more than 5 000
building lots have been delivered. That is a very sound record of this
government's achievement in the affordable housing strategy, which is
our pillar strategy for delivering on the challenges right across that
continuum.
I will look at what the opposition has said about its
strategies to address this. The Leader of the Opposition has been particularly
one-dimensional on this. He has issued a Labor discussion paper on economic
reform setting out what the Labor Party believes is the key issue. In essence,
the paper talks about land supply. On 12 October, in response to the Western
Australian Council of Social Service ''Cost of Living Report 2012'',
the Leader of the Opposition said —
''With housing stress like
this, the Barnett Government should be doing all it can to relieve some of the
pressure from Western Australians and a key part of this is increasing land
supply.''
He went on to say in March 2012 —
''WA Labor will fast-track
the development of State Government land
government departments and
agencies own significant tracts of land A focused approach is needed to
bring this land on for development as soon as possible.
That sounds really good but it will not address the problem.
The Housing Industry Forecasting Group said that land supply is not actually
the issue, yet that seems to be the sharp-point response from the opposition.
It has a very one-dimensional approach to tackle affordable housing in Western
Australia. The opposition really needs to sharpen its pencil on that if it
wants to put itself up as the alternative government. The real problem is that
in the current financial climate around public developers, they are finding it
difficult to access finance and they are seemingly unwilling to take the risk
in an uncertain market. The state government is teaming up with the private
sector to get them across the line. If they are push-button ready for projects
to deliver, we put out this expression of interest process to partner up to
deliver on all parts in that chain of housing responsibility. We are taking a
collective, integrated approach to deliver affordable housing in Western
Australia. We have the answer in our affordable housing strategy. The
opposition is extremely one-dimensional in its approach to this. If it wants to
put itself up as an alternative government, members opposite will really have
to sharpen their pencils on that one.
the question. No doubt the member is well aware of the housing challenges in
his electorate, and will be intimately over this government's response
to meeting those challenges. I also support his advocacy for what we are trying
to achieve in those areas.
For members who are not aware, every
October the Housing Industry Forecasting Group puts out an annual report. The
group is made up of representatives from government as well as industry bodies,
including the Real Estate Institute of WA, the Housing Industry Association,
the Master Builders Association and the chambers of commerce. The group puts
out in its annual report what it sees as a forecast of land supply and dwelling
commencements in Western Australia. The report came out only recently; I
announced it at a breakfast function. The report shows that some consumer
confidence is coming back into the marketplace. There are signs of recovery.
The group expects something like a 20 per cent increase in new housing
construction in 2012–13. That is a good thing, because housing employs
a lot of people in the community and is also a significant contributor to the
state's economy. The annual report also says that affordable housing is
still a major issue. That is no surprise to anybody. Right across the housing
continuum, from social housing to affordable rentals to affordable purchasers
to the open market, there is a certain amount of stress within the marketplace.
This government's response is the affordable housing strategy, with a
range of measures to assist people, wherever they are in that housing
continuum, to deliver an outcome that suits them and to put in place strategies
to improve the affordable housing issue.
It is appropriate at this time to talk a little about what
the government has done. With social housing, in this term of government we
have delivered twice as many social houses in half the time the last government
did in its eight-year term. As a simple key performance indicator, that is a
pretty good measure of our performance against the former government's.
In terms of private rentals, there will be 6 000 new affordable rentals by 2016
through the national rental affordability scheme. Under royalties for regions,
significant funds have gone into Government Regional Officers' Housing
in the regions to service workers' accommodation, particularly in the
north where we know there are acute housing stresses. In terms of homeownership
and the Keystart shared equity scheme—the expression-of-interest
process we went through with the private sector—more than 5 000
building lots have been delivered. That is a very sound record of this
government's achievement in the affordable housing strategy, which is
our pillar strategy for delivering on the challenges right across that
continuum.
I will look at what the opposition has said about its
strategies to address this. The Leader of the Opposition has been particularly
one-dimensional on this. He has issued a Labor discussion paper on economic
reform setting out what the Labor Party believes is the key issue. In essence,
the paper talks about land supply. On 12 October, in response to the Western
Australian Council of Social Service ''Cost of Living Report 2012'',
the Leader of the Opposition said —
''With housing stress like
this, the Barnett Government should be doing all it can to relieve some of the
pressure from Western Australians and a key part of this is increasing land
supply.''
He went on to say in March 2012 —
''WA Labor will fast-track
the development of State Government land
government departments and
agencies own significant tracts of land A focused approach is needed to
bring this land on for development as soon as possible.
That sounds really good but it will not address the problem.
The Housing Industry Forecasting Group said that land supply is not actually
the issue, yet that seems to be the sharp-point response from the opposition.
It has a very one-dimensional approach to tackle affordable housing in Western
Australia. The opposition really needs to sharpen its pencil on that if it
wants to put itself up as the alternative government. The real problem is that
in the current financial climate around public developers, they are finding it
difficult to access finance and they are seemingly unwilling to take the risk
in an uncertain market. The state government is teaming up with the private
sector to get them across the line. If they are push-button ready for projects
to deliver, we put out this expression of interest process to partner up to
deliver on all parts in that chain of housing responsibility. We are taking a
collective, integrated approach to deliver affordable housing in Western
Australia. We have the answer in our affordable housing strategy. The
opposition is extremely one-dimensional in its approach to this. If it wants to
put itself up as an alternative government, members opposite will really have
to sharpen their pencils on that one.
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