CBD blocks blooming
ALMOST 600 new, privately developed apartments in central Hobart have current approval, been proposed, or are in mediation with the planning tribunal.
A new map compiled by the Hobart City Council shows the pipeline of approved or proposed residential apartment developments in central Hobart.
The building industry has welcomed the approvals boom.
ALMOST 600 new, privately developed apartments in central Hobart have current approval, been proposed, or are in mediation with the planning tribunal.
A new map compiled by the Hobart City Council shows the pipeline of approved or proposed residential apartment developments in central Hobart.
It shows a total of 426 potential new apartments, not including those already constructed or under way by the University of Tasmania.
Slightly further out of the city are other approved projects on Montpelier Retreat, Battery Point, Sandy Bay Rd, Warwick Street, West Hobart, Montgomery Court, Sandy Bay and Elizabeth St, North Hobart.
A further application for 55 apartments was lodged with the council late last month at 90 Melville St.
These figures do not include public housing proposals, including those funded under the Hobart City Deal.
Real Estate Institute of Tasmania president Mandy Welling said it was fantastic to see a range of developments in the pipeline.
“There’s so many reasons why it would be a very good idea to have these properties under construction and get things moving to absorb up the numbers of people looking for somewhere to live,” she said.
“Every way that you look at it, this is the way we need to lean – these types of apartment complexes give more bang for their buck and get more people in per square metre.
“This type of property may lend itself to have a lower median sale price and having the option for investors to buy into these developments, even when the market does ease off, people will always want to live in these areas.”
Even if all of the approved and proposed developments go ahead, the state will still have quite a way to go to meet future housing demand.
The December Housing Update from the University of Tasmania’s Housing and Community Research Unit noted recent research suggesting the state needed 14,200 social housing dwellings over the next 20 years to meet housing need at the lower end of the market.
Of those, 11,100 were required to respond to current need.
It also found the time lag between new housing approvals and building was growing.
Master Builders Tasmania executive director Matthew Pollock said it was encouraging to see more medium density projects on the way.
“It’s one of the most important elements of solving our housing affordability issue,” he said.
With growth and demand on the local construction industry at a high point, access to skilled workers remains the industry’s biggest challenge, Mr Pollock said.
“We’ll soon see a couple of major projects finishing up such as the Royal Hobart Hospital redevelopment, so we do expect to see some excess labour being available from that,” he said.