Regional Housing

Delivery Plans for the Functional Economic Regions (FER) of Upper North West, Lithgow, Upper Hunter, Coffs Coast, Northern New England, Nambucca and Hastings-Macleay. These regions comprised sixteen local government areas that were all facing varying housing degree challenges. The Delivery Plans were prepared through a strong collaboration and consultation process with each council to determine localised barriers and potential solutions to unlocking housing in the coastal, regional and remote areas. The plans were written to support local councils to address housing supply and looked at possible interventions outside the planning system.

Key elements of the study included:

• Reviewing government strategic plans and other relevant information
• Profiling the study area with consideration of location attributes, the demographic profile, housing affordability, employment, and economic characteristics
• Reviewing State population, household, dwelling projections and historic ABS data to determine the types of dwellings required to support the FER’s population
• Consulting with councils and industry on factors affecting housing demand and how the housing pressures impact housing delivery across the regions
• Assessing the capacity of the region to deliver housing.

Project outcome

The plans outlined key findings surrounding the supply and delivery of housing within the FER. Priority actions were identified based on whether they are local and would benefit a specific location, LGA, FER or whether they could be applied more broadly to Regional NSW or the whole state. All actions were considered to be short term and high priority. In addition to localised actions, the Plan also suggested actions that would require implementation at a state level.

Services:

• Demographic analysis
• Policy analysis
• GIS spatial analysis
• Stakeholder engagement
• Affordable housing calculator
• Bespoke research
• Demand analysis
• Strategy development

Client: Department of Regional NSW
Project year: 2022 – 2023

For more information, contact Elle Clouston, Principal