Community Housing Industry Association Victoria has urged the State Government to embrace mandatory inclusionary zoning, after it supported the measure in its long-awaited response to a parliamentary homelessness inquiry.
The government has provided ‘in principle’ support to the committee’s recommendation to investigate implementing mandatory inclusionary zoning, where a portion of new major housing developments must be social or affordable housing.
However, the initiatives in the government’s specific response to this recommendation bear no resemblance to inclusionary zoning, and will not increase social housing supply in line with population growth.
CHIA Vic chief executive Sarah Toohey has called on the Victorian Government to work with the housing sector to design an inclusionary zoning scheme to help end housing stress and homelessness.
“Since the parliamentary inquiry’s final report into homelessness in Victoria was handed down, housing costs have skyrocketed and more people have slipped into homelessness,” she said.
“The most effective way to ease Victoria’s housing crisis, and stop people falling into homelessness, is to build more social and affordable housing for the Victorians who need it most.
“A well-designed mandatory inclusionary zoning scheme has enormous potential to deliver thousands of social homes each year. Having a scheme that’s voluntary provides very little extra social and affordable housing.
“Victoria continues to have the lowest proportion of social housing out of all states and territories so we need more investment and new solutions, such as mandatory inclusionary zoning, to boost the number of genuinely affordable homes.”
