Call for special housing powers

THE Palaszczuk government is facing pressure to push through emergency powers that would fast track more new homes being built in areas facing chronic housing shortages.

But there are also calls to ensure that the housing stock being created is of desirable quality with residential lots not put in at the expense of open space or parkland.

Brisbane developer Kent Leicester of KDL Property Group said the upcoming October 20 housing summit could be used to examine emergency powers around housing.

He said emergency planning measures would help boost housing supply “in a short amount of time” by allowing amendments to development approved projects.

“Having a housing summit is a great initiative and something they could consider is the temporary relaxation of planning laws around densities and product mix to deal with this housing supply emergency,” he said.

“For example, they could look at allowing an existing DA for a 100-lot residential housing development to be amended and expanded to perhaps 120 or 130 lots. The DA could also possibly be amended to allow for more diversification of the building product with the estate to feature villas, terrace homes or townhouses as well as stand-alone housing.”

Real Estate Buyers Agents Association president Cate Bakos called for a long-term strategy to tackle the housing crisis, requiring intervention from both federal and state governments.

“I worry about high density development and developers seeking to increase profits from a site,” she said of the proposal to add more on to already approved sites.

But she added: “Each development needs to be considered on its own merit. There will be some situations where a higher density could work.”