Speaking at the HIA's Regional Housing Roundtable in Bendigo, Victoria yesterday, HIA Chief Executive of Industry & Policy Simon Croft outlined the importance of having a targeted housing plan for regional Australia.

“Housing policies need to deliver for regional Australia and not just be an adjunct of inner-city policies set in Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra,” said Mr Croft.

“This is why we have today released a 20-point blueprint for policymakers that can support regional housing and recognise the growth in population outside metropolitan areas.

“HIA's Housing the Regions report provides a platform to open a discussion on how to best take pressure off housing in our capital cities, through engaging with regional Australia to implement solutions which support the growing regional populations.

“The number of Australians moving from cities to the regions continues to grow, and this trend is expected to increase in the coming years as more people get priced out of living in metropolitan areas. There are now 8.5 million people living in regional Australia.

“With high house prices and cost-of-living pressures biting, many people are realising the regions can offer the lifestyle they want and the jobs they're after, minus big city problems - like long commute times, tolls and traffic.

“This shift in population highlights the importance of the need for appropriate investment in the regions to bolster services, skills and infrastructure needed to support a growing population.

“Even more critically it reinforces the importance and the need for a targeted regional housing plan that includes the volume of supply needed and providing affordable and diverse housing options.

“Access to shovel (build) ready land, insufficient investment in necessary enabling infrastructure for new housing estates, and worker shortages in nearly every key role in construction from onsite trades to regional council staff needed to process planning approvals are three of the biggest problems being faced.

“Builders must also contend with environmental approvals that can take years to conclude.

“Builders are acutely aware of the massive pent-up demand for new housing in these areas however, they need the systems around them that facilitate delivery of more homes working for them – currently the opposite is true,” concluded Mr Croft.

Download the Housing Industry Association Housing the Regions report.