Nimbyism (not in my backyard) is officially cancelled, with new research warning the only way to reach the Prime Minister’s new homes target is more units in more backyards.
PRD Research found 145 suburbs Nimbys might consider nightmare zones with the highest number of fresh housing stock being built this year – around 69 of which are areas priced below medians of the capital or city they’re located in.
The research named suburbs within 20km of capital CBDs where the most new homes were set to begin construction in 2024 – breaking it down across Brisbane,Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaideas well as within regional cities like the Gold Coast, Geelong, Cairns, and Townsville.
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It found most of the new housing stock coming online this year was not townhouses, houses or villas but units in infill sites, many across three-to-four storey developments.
PRD chief economist Dr Asti Mardiasmo said Australia simply could not afford nimbyism any more.
“We are forced to knock nimbyism out of our mind,” she said of the local protests against more built-up developments in their neighbourhoods.
“The only way (forward) is to look at current suburbs, where you can find developable land or create that land by buying two or three houses and then knocking it down (for units).”
Dr Mardiasmo said “most of the stock is still two bedroom units”, with “gentle density” expected to become the norm across suburbs throughout Australia to beat the housing crisis.
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She said while two bedroom unit supply was “still not quite conducive as an alternative for a family”, demographics were showing that Australia was changing dramatically towards smaller family units.
“The demographics of future Australia is more of a smaller family unit,” she said. “The thing that’s appealing is the price – there’s still a big gap between units and house prices, and there’s more stock of units.”
She said unit prices were expected to rise but not as dramatically as house prices in coming years too.