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CASE STUDY<br />
Housing affordability<br />
External factors contributing<br />
to a lack of housing affordability<br />
There are a number of other factors that<br />
are contributing to the lack of affordable<br />
housing, such as the inconsistency of<br />
developer infrastructure contribution<br />
charging. Improving the consistency of<br />
these contributions would reduce costs<br />
and as such, lead to reduced consumer<br />
prices. We therefore engage with industry<br />
bodies and speak at public forums<br />
on issues such as these to influence<br />
housing affordability.<br />
FY11 activities<br />
In FY11 we plan to further improve the<br />
affordability of our communities relative<br />
to the local established market in areas<br />
where we operate. In addition to the<br />
initiatives above, we will also:<br />
• Target specific proportions of land<br />
developed in each community<br />
as ‘affordable stock’ (likely to be<br />
10–20 per cent of stock capable<br />
of being met by the budgets of first<br />
home buyers within the relevant<br />
catchment area).<br />
• Work with local authorities,<br />
government and industry to transform<br />
planning which constrains small lot<br />
affordable housing development.<br />
Highlands, Vic<br />
Affordable housing at Highlands<br />
residential community<br />
Federal and state government housing<br />
stimulus measures in late 2009 were<br />
responsible for driving strong first home<br />
buyer demand. This led us to consider<br />
two questions:<br />
• How do we continue to provide housing<br />
that is affordable to this group in the<br />
face of rising prices?<br />
• How do we continue to service the<br />
demands of this market segment once<br />
stimulus measures have been removed?<br />
To help address these issues, we<br />
launched an initiative to develop<br />
packaged house and land solutions<br />
for under $300,000 at our Highlands<br />
residential community in<br />
Melbourne’s North.<br />
Highlands is a carefully-planned community<br />
designed for families, with parklands<br />
and open space and is close to schools<br />
and amenities.<br />
Targeting the under $300,000 price point<br />
requires innovation. Analysis suggested<br />
that a $300,000 package would involve a<br />
land component of $120,000. At Highlands,<br />
no standard lots were capable of meeting<br />
this price point, with a lot size of 212.5m 2<br />
representing the budget threshold.<br />
To make new home buying easier for those<br />
starting out, we worked with builders<br />
Henley Properties Group to develop<br />
a range of affordable fixed price house<br />
and land packages:<br />
• Land produced at a standard<br />
8.5m x 25m lot configuration.<br />
• An initial five lots released to the market,<br />
with scope to release another 34 lots<br />
over the course of FY10.<br />
• Customised small lot house designs<br />
developed and built by Henley.<br />
The product has been highly successful.<br />
At 30 June we had achieved a total of 20 lot<br />
sales of these lot packages and plans are<br />
now underway to incorporate this approach<br />
in other Victorian communities, with similar<br />
initiatives being planned for the other states.<br />
In total, approximately 110 additional lots<br />
are planned for development in FY11, with<br />
a further three builders also developing<br />
designs to compete in this market.<br />
Grant allocations in Western Australia<br />
In Western Australia, affordability gains<br />
were achieved by securing over $3 million<br />
from the Federal Government’s Housing<br />
Affordability Fund to accelerate key<br />
infrastructure in two residential communities<br />
at reduced cost, with gains passed on<br />
to purchasers:<br />
• At Newhaven, $1.75 million was received<br />
to help relocate power infrastructure<br />
which traverses the site. The funding<br />
expedited this activity, allowing a further<br />
59 lots to be developed in the Newhaven<br />
Town Centre.<br />
• At Settlers Hills, a $1.5 million grant<br />
was used to construct a new road which<br />
makes access available to a further<br />
50 lots for development in the project.<br />
This funding enabled us to subsidise<br />
development costs by $30,000 per lot<br />
across more than 100 home sites in the<br />
two communities, greatly improving access<br />
to affordable housing in the region.<br />
<strong>Stockland</strong> Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability Report June 2010<br />
51