The McGowan Government is launching a Housing Diversity Pipeline (HDP) to encourage new developments on Government land and bring more housing choices to Western Australia.
A total of 12 Government-owned landholdings will be released in the first tranche of the HDP.
The pipeline has been established to encourage new developments adjacent to METRONET stations and transport corridors.
The program is targeted at delivering greater housing diversity and increasing the availability of social housing.
Under the new process, developers, builders and community housing providers will be invited to participate in a registration of interest (ROI) process.
It gives industry the chance to put forward their ideas on how the sites could be developed and what new housing opportunities can be explored.
The Government will be open to innovative ideas including building to rent, ground leasing of the land, and will be requesting a variety of housing types.
The ROI process will help to identify potential development partners.
After this stage, a more targeted expressions of interest process will follow to facilitate the actual approvals and support for the new development.
A targeted expression of interest process will be immediately undertaken for the Smith Street site in Highgate with the Government seeking to deliver an innovative community housing development on the site.
The process is also designed to ensure we create a program of work for industry to support it over the longer term once the impact of the current housing stimulus measures start to wane.
The HDP is the latest in a number of measures put in place by the McGowan Government to boost housing diversity and supply in Western Australia including:
- $2.1 billion worth of investment into social housing during this term of Parliament, which will include the delivery of around 3,300 new homes;
- $20,000 Building Bonus Grant which will support more than 20,000 Western Australians build new homes and led to record growth in new home building approvals last financial year; and
- the establishment of stamp duty rebates to encourage investment in new apartment developments.
Registrations of interest can be made online at www.wa.gov.au/housing-diversity-pipeline-registration-of-interest by Tuesday March 1, 2022.
Among the sites, 10 are in metropolitan Perth, with two located in regional WA:
- Albany Highway, Kelmscott
- Merrifield Avenue, Kelmscott
- Zebina Street, East Perth
- Cecil Avenue, Cannington
- Future High Wycombe Station Precinct, High Wycombe
- Thomas Street, West Perth
- Gwenyfred Road, South Perth
- Brearley Avenue, Redcliffe
- East Street, East Fremantle
- Smith Street (Stirling Towers), Highgate
- Brown Street, Busselton
- GreenView Estate, Kalgoorlie
As stated by Housing and Lands Minister John Carey:
“The Housing Diversity Pipeline is another example of the McGowan Government’s reform to housing delivery, which is helping to boost the availability of social and affordable housing in Western Australia.
“We know there is a need for a more diverse housing mix in Western Australia and I am confident we will see some really fantastic development ideas through this process.
“These sites are in fantastic locations and close to public amenities like future train stations. We want to hear from developers, community housing groups and builders about what they can bring to the table.
“We are looking at all opportunities across Government and thinking outside the box to deliver better housing outcomes in our State.
“The McGowan Government has committed more than $2.1 billion in this term of Parliament to measures that will significantly improve the quality and accessibility of social housing in Western Australia, including the delivery of 3,300 new homes.
“While delivering those 3,300 new social homes is a key priority, we are also taking steps to ensure we can maintain that effort in future years, particularly as the current housing boom eases.”
As stated by Planning Minister Rita Saffioti:
“I am really excited about the opportunities that this program will create to deliver new housing developments adjacent to key transport nodes, in particular METRONET stations.
“This will bring forward new developments and assist in creating more housing choice throughout the suburbs. It will also create more vibrant activity centres.
“Through this registration of interest, we’re calling on developers, builders and community housing providers to engage with us as we look to deliver quality mixed tenure housing across 10 metropolitan and two regional sites.
“This program will provide a long-term pipeline of work and local jobs to sustain the housing construction industry.”
