Cashflow Towns - Issue 6
Working Together
1
Working
Together.
Since the beginning of 2016 The State
Government have been moving towards a
discussion paper called “Working Together,”
where they have asked the community and other
interested parties to answer 16 questions around
all sorts of housing areas that are causing grief.
In overview, their waiting lists for support
housing are far greater across Australia than
any Government currently has answers for. The
current Minister for Housing in Queensland, the
Honourable Mick De Brenni, is committed to
solving this issue; however, the machine that
delivers the outcomes has been around since
1946: The Queensland Housing Commission.
The Future Housing Task Force members do not
necessarily share all of my views and I accept
ownership and responsibility for some of my
comments. I am featuring this response to our
students because it is in alignment with what
I believe they should be building, which are
smarter, smaller solutions or multiple homes on
the same block.
In our webinars we have featured blocks that
can be cut into two, such as Bergins Rise; or
three, such as the units at Kingston; four, such as
Ripley Valley; six, such as Coral Street; and 10,
being the rooming houses in Rocklea.
Ultimately, we are talking about the creation of an
excess of 120,000 homes across Australia that
are needed now.
It’s a big problem and therefore a big opportunity.
In short, it is easier to find tenants at $180 to
$250 per week than it is to find tenants at $450
to $800 per week.
The State Governments have the same problem,
only bigger, as they have mainly built, bought, or
kept three, four or five bedroom homes.
I hope this brief will give you an insight as to how
Governments across our great land are thinking
about The Future of Housing in Australia.
If you would like to hear more about this issue in
the future let us know.
Working Together.
Cashflow Towns - Issue 6
2
Working Together
Cashflow Towns - Issue 6
Working Together
3
The Future
of Housing
in Australia.
On page 8 of your working together document your reference to the lack of a stable, safe and
secure home impedes a person’s participation in education and employment and diminishes their
sense of belonging and ability to deal with personal, social and health issues.
1. In response to that statement the following comments apply:
When you buy a parcel of land in
Queensland, particularly South East
Queensland that is zoned residential, time
frames can vary from 2 years to 10 years or
more before you can deliver those as housing
lots. The impost on time is just one cost
burden that is passed on to the end user.
For example a four bedroom home worth
around $420,000 carries cost imposts of over
$115,000 in GST taxes and charges. This
is a heavy burden when compared against
established homes that make up 80% of
transactions across Australia and only have
stamp duty to deal with.
When State Government weigh into this issue
they have been successful through their EDQ
branch in speeding up this process. This was
seen in Flagstone, Yarrabilba, Caloundra and
others, but what needs to be considered is
that these are major projects representing a
very small number of estates in Queensland.
EDQ as a government body is then asked
to deliver land to areas of major shortage
such as Moranbah, Mackay, Gladstone and
Black Water and as those markets cool they
are then concentrating on land supply where
there is no need, causing high costs for low
returns. These comments from the overview
of what gets in the way of your comment on
page 8.
The Future of Housing in Australia
Cashflow Towns - Issue 6
Working Together
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2.
Potential solutions to these issues, the following comments apply.
We have produced the following live
examples of housing solutions to our private
sector clients in the past 2 years under the
www.futurehousingtaskforce.com.au banner.
The release of the Smarter Small Home 2
which is 65sqm in Queensland designed as
a dual key living environment. It has won
awards for the most outstanding contribution
to the Australasian Over 50’s Housing
Awards 2015 and the Urban Design Award
for Logan City Council (See Awards). It allows
aged persons to rent their home out, build
this on the same lot, and have a carer in one
side and themselves in the other, ultimately
lifting the amount of residents on a single lot.
This is very successful in NSW and WA
where State Government have changed
policy to allow secondary dwellings (also
known as granny flats, auxiliary dwellings
and ancillary dwellings). In contrast; council
by council, Queensland, Logan, the Sunshine
Coast, Toowoomba and recently Moreton Bay
have acknowledged this change. What this
means is that by early 2016, they will allow
a secondary dwelling to legally lease two
separate areas on one dwelling house block.
Other councils such as Ipswich have since
repealed their decision to accommodate
the original solution of 70m2, and have
subsequently reduced the footprint to a
maximum of 50m2 with one bedroom and
added infrastructure charges. Examples of 4
residents living in 130sqm under 2 leases are
shown here (see picture and plan). Ultimately,
this style of dwelling allows for up to 4 users
at very low market rates from $150 per week
to $200 per week. The Future of Housing in Australia
Cashflow Towns - Issue 6
Working Together
5
House & Annexure Unit Design
The Future of Housing in Australia
Cashflow Towns - Issue 6
Working Together
Granny Flat Approvals –
Zero Required!
6
Did you know you can have a 2 bedroom Granny Flat built in your backyard, with no council
approval, without neighbours objecting and approved in just 10 days?
In 2009, the NSW Government released the Affordable Housing State Environment Planning Policy
(SEPP) which permits all residential home-owners with a property larger then 450m2 (which also has a
minimum 12m street frontage) to build a Granny Flat on their property.
The NSW Affordable Housing State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP) was introduced in 2009
allowing Granny Flats in NSW to be approved as a complying development in just 10 days. This
legislation means that residential home owners do not require Granny Flat approvals on their property
subject to some minimum requirements.
The minimum site requirements for a Granny Flat approval as a complying development include:
• Property must be a minimum 450m2 in area
• Maintain a 3.0m setback from the rear and
0.9m from side boundaries
• Property must be zoned residential
• Maintain a distance of 3.0m from any existing
trees that are over 4m in height
• Property must have a 12 metre width at
the building line of the proposed detached
granny flat. If your property does not meet this
requirement you could apply for an attached
granny flat.
• Maximum 60m2 external area for your granny
flat
Lot size: Minimum 450m2
Primary of Parallel Road
This diagram (left) shows the requirements for a
block that is between 450sqm & 900sqm in size.
The requirements change for properties which are
larger than 900sqm. Refer to Supporting secondary
dwellings (granny flats) fact sheet for further details
of large site requirements.
The Future of Housing in Australia - Granny Flats
Cashflow Towns - Issue 6
Working Together
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On page 8 you mention shifting demographics,
but this does not allow for council small lot
codes based on old demographic data. You
also mentioned the private rental market is not
working well for many people who rely on it,
again the housing stock of 4 bedroom homes
shows that over 12 million rooms are vacant
as fewer people live in a 4 bedroom home. The
design is incorrect, but seen as the preferred
housing choice by councils, developers and
residents who will reject most things that are not
their memory of architecture.
The solution to this is another example of
housing that the taskforce is about to begin
construction on: 6 x 4 bedroom homes on
one block. Each room is designed to have its
own bathroom facility with individual lockable
bedrooms. For 24 residents at around $150
per week, this is a very affordable option within
meters of a rail link on the Southside of Brisbane.
However, under current planning restrictions, this
is not allowable by council without prolonged
application timeframes, increased parking
restrictions, and consequently projects that do
not have financial viability.
This form of accommodation ironically is
allowable by The Department of Housing
and Public Works, Residential Services
and Residential Tenancy act, Rooming
Accommodation Act, Residential Tenancy
Authority, Fair Trading that provides needed and
affordable, safe and demographically appropriate
housing. (See Photo and plans)
The Future of Housing in Australia - Granny Flats
Cashflow Towns - Issue 6
Working Together
Ian Ugarte.
8
Ian is a member of our Task Force specialising in Micro to Affordable spaces. I have asked Ian
to comment on this and other sections of this report. His main comments are noted below as
the ‘Multi-generational Circle of Life’.
The Multi-Generational Circle of life concept
is taking development perspectives of
mixed community living in different styles
of accommodation throughout their lifetime
dependant on family size, needs of the family
and cost of maintaining the family dwelling either
as a rental or as a mortgaged Principal Place of
Residence.
Generation Y currently are in the throes of
innovation and advancing technology. They
are very transient and have very few needs
or wants of belongings and hence their
nomadic lifestyle of work place changes,
accommodation changes and frequent
holiday destinations.
The style of accommodation for Gen Y is quite
simply a small and appropriate self-contained
micro-apartment of between 22-32m2. They
are happy to live on their own within their own
small space. Rooming Accommodation policy in
Brisbane City Council allows 5 micro apartments
to be built on low density residential zonings with
Private Certifier approval, a very good policy.
Come time, one Gen Y will meet another and
they will begin living together. This will create
less space within the micro-apartment and
ultimately their space needed has now been
more appropriate at 32-40m2. In comes the
next stage of the circle of life, which is the
Smarter Smaller Home II. This would become
the new dwelling for the couple, consisting of a
shared communal facility with a laundry plus an
appropriate size micro-apartment that would be
their residence.
They then have the secondary ‘one bedroom
component’ of the home rented to allow a
smaller rental cost for them or assist in paying
off a mortgage, hence reducing the housing
affordability stress on a new homeowner.
When the young couple has a child they can
either move into the one bedroom area and
rent the micro-apartment, or depending on their
financial situation, have control of both sides of
the Smarter Smaller Home II.
This family now has the opportunity (having paid
of a lot of their debt) to increase family size. A
second child would allow them now to move into
a Smarter Smaller Home that is now designed
to have a one bedroom plus two bedroom
component. Again they are now in the position to
live in the larger two bedroom side and rent out
the smaller side. Having more children will allow
them to use the one bedroom side for the third
child.
When the fourth child comes they move into the
4 bedroom home. This may only be a home for
a small period of 5-10 years. The reason being
is that the first child that started their life in the
Smarter Smaller Home II is now ready to move
into the single market rental accommodation
micro-apartment, meaning that the family is
now in the position to downsize back to a home
that is very similar to their former home if not
identical.
The Future of Housing in Australia - Ian Ugarte
Cashflow Towns - Issue 6
Working Together
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The second child then decides to move into a
micro-apartment and they then vacate another
area of the family home allowing the family to
rent a component of the house for rental income.
We then have an exodus of the last child and we
are back down to the original Smarter Smaller
Home II. The last child is then moved to the Gen
Y micro-apartment and the parents have now
grown close to retirement.
NSW State Government employed a female
Bureaucrat to oversee a change in planning
and housing across the whole of NSW. The
introduction of the Secondary Dwelling policy
and other affordable housing policies such as
the New Generation Boarding House policy
has created much needed and affordable
accommodation.
They choose to live in the one bedroom for a
while and then buy a caravan. They rent the
one bedroom component and live in the microapartment. While they are travelling they are
receiving income. When they get home they
have somewhere to park the caravan and also
have the ability to look after the grandkids or the
neighbours children.
The issue in relation to housing is the huge
amount of 4 bedroom 2 bathroom products not
required for the market. There are, as stated,
12 million empty bedrooms in existing stock in
Australia that is not being used for the correct
and needed markets.
Age starts to weary them and they require a carer
to look after their needs. The carer can share the
Smarter Smaller Home II with the owners until
they are finally ready to enter the last cycle of
the circle of life in which they move back into a
micro-apartment very similar if not exactly the
same as when they were a Gen Y or as we now
commonly know them – Baby Boomers.
This style of development/accommodation
should be situated in the same vicinity. This
allows a variety of demographic; a variety of
wealth classes, a variety of housing and more
importantly creates a community. The central
area of the housing is a shared space with
private vehicles, basketball ring, hopscotch
course, BBQ area and shared lawns.
State Environmental Planning Policies (SEPP)
Currently the planning policies around Qld do not
allow for more than 2 households or 2 unrelated
parties to live in a dwelling house. To put it
simply, any person that would like to rent their
property by the room and not live in it cannot
put 2 different people in the house legally as it
contravenes council policies. ‘Every other body’
being the Department of Housing and Public
Works, Residential Services and Residential
Tenancy act, Rooming Accommodation Act,
Residential Tenancy Authority and Fair Trading.
My input would suggest a State Government
Policy aligning with legislation that would allow
for the usage of 4 or less unrelated parties to
legally live in a share arrangement in a property
without a compliance department from the
Council issuing show cause notices.
The Future of Housing in Australia - Ian Ugarte
Cashflow Towns - Issue 6
Working Together
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The policy would require some simple requirements to remain as a standard 1a building under the
Building Code of Australia (BCA) and require modifications to the building in alignment with Residential
Services in ways of Fire and Evacuation.
The property would need the following upgrades:
• Linked smoke detectors with early warning
system
• Minimum 2 car spaces
• Maximum 4 unrelated persons
• Share House agreement with each resident
• Bond lodged individually for each resident
• Resident have exclusive access to their own
bedroom and in some cases bathrooms
• Residents share communal areas including
yards, kitchen, bathrooms and laundry
• House rules are agreed upon and in prominent
positions
• Minimum dry storage area and minimum
fridge and freezer storage area
• Meet requirements of Residential services MP
5.7
• Meet requirements of 2.1 Fire and safety in
budget accommodation buildings
• Have 1 letterbox, 1 electrical meter and 3 bins
• Minimum 2 car parking spaces
• Any new construction to comply with
Universal access codes
• Requirement to fit in with the amenity of all
other surrounding buildings
• Private certifier approval
Alternatively the use of the Brisbane City Rooming House policy across the country will certainly allow
for an opening of rooms by providers to create affordable outcomes for residents. This policy has been
taken up well within the BCC area and the Future Housing Taskforce would see its establishment state
wide without infrastructure contributions as a positive move forward. The Rooming House fact sheet is
available in the Brisbane City Council website.
By providing a policy in this manner we will then be able to access the empty bedrooms and properties
within the state and use them for appropriate affordable housing.
Affordable housing is classed as housing that is created and becomes affordable for that suburb.
Affordable for Toowong is a vast difference to affordable for Rocklea. The 4 unrelated person policy
would allow investors and homeowners to make use of their properties and create a decrease on
housing demands. Singles, couples and families will then be able to find a rental option and the
demand on market prices will shift in a stable direction.
Correct supply of housing accommodation will ultimately create a pricing affordability for the production
of reasonably priced property, thereby allowing the young to purchase in the most unaffordable country
in the world.
The Future of Housing in Australia - Ian Ugarte
Cashflow Towns - Issue 6
Working Together
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The major market changers are recently divorced women over 60 who have little or no
superannuation or assets from their previous relationship. An example of housing that the task
force has built on the Southside of Brisbane includes three homes on a 350sqm lot that sold
for $195,000, despite the average being closer to $300,000 for new properties, again with 200
meters to rail station.
The Future of Housing in Australia
Cashflow Towns - Issue 6
Working Together
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ROBE
BED 5
3.2 x 8.8
ENS
W/M
PTY
LIVING/DINING/
KITCHEN
5.0 x 3.9
HALL
BED 2
4.4 x 9.9
BED 3
3.2 x 8.8
ROBE
OUT.
LIVING
2.0 x 2.1
W/M
L'DRY
BED 4
3.2 x 8.8
ENS
COURTYARD
1.0 x 4.0
BED 1
4.4 x 9.9
ROBE
OUT.
LIVING
2.0 x 2.1
ENS
OUT. LIVING
1.3 x 2.7
ROBE
ENS
10m
OUT. LIVING
1.3 x 2.7
ROBE
26.3m
OUT.
LIVING
2.0 x 2.1
ENS
PORCH
GROUND FLOOR TOTAL AREA 259m
2
2.5m
40m
15m
YARD
YARD
YARD
OUT.
LIVING
OUT.
LIVING
COURTYARD
10.7m
OUT.
LIVING
RESIDENCE
DRIVEWAY/
CARPARK
3m
OUT.
LIVING
PORCH
OUT.
LIVING
2.5m
YARD
YARD
SITE PLAN TYPICAL AREA 600 m2 (NOT TO SCALE)
Plans are artist’s impression and dimensions are approximate. All plans and art work is copyright to Affordable Housing Company www.ahcbrisbane.com.au QBCC 1252687
Design:
Date:
12/04/2016
269.1
SHEET 1/2
SINGLE STOREY 5 BED, 5 BATH, 5 CAR
SHARE HOUSE FOR A 600m2 LOT
Affordable Housing Company
PO Box 9499 WYNNUM WEST, QLD 4178
We have also built over 6 homes in Brisbane that accommodate up to 10 separate residents
within 10 km of the Brisbane CBD. We have also launched a new series of Mortgagee free homes
that provide 5 separate units of accommodation with the principal place of residence on top and
4 units below, all under 300sqm to stay within residential code compliance.
GSPublisherVersion 0.0.100.100
All of the above are difficult to do across the state. Currently, there is only one Council area
that has a preferred policy to build using only external certifiers, thereby avoiding time issues in
dealing with council by council policies. This has proved to be the most successful outcome for
the taskforce.
The Future of Housing in Australia
Cashflow Towns - Issue 6
Working Together
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In your 1st item: Sustainable Communities, I address the following
comments to your questions.
How do we create an environment that enables a human services approach to housing that
puts people at the centre in Queensland?
You have had success on this area with our
fellow task force member David Cant of the BHC
group on outcomes such as Caggara House;
you can scale this up using their models of both
construction and tenancy approaches. Caggara
House is an example of tenancy approaches
“with a more flexible policy framework that
recognizes the need for commerciality and
financial sustainability”. You can tour our various
demonstration examples that I have mentioned
in my report so far.
http://www.grindley.com.au/project/brisbanehousing-caggara-house
You could also move to a body corporate
function that provides an amazing mix of housing
that councils will not object to. Within reason,
that provides solutions from 18sqm to 130sqm
on the one site with 24/7 management on site.
You would restrict yourselves to 20% of housing
in these projects, allowing private market
tenancy to take up the balance. This will create
a large demographic mix of housing, avoiding
the old patterns of oversupply of QHC stock;
for example, Inala where two of our Task Force
members renovated and built over 650 new
housing solutions for different markets from 1999
to 2006.
The Future of Housing in Australia
Cashflow Towns - Issue 6
Working Together
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What do the department and other service providers need to do to operate more efficiently
as human service providers?
This is a difficult question as your own Housing Commission charter had few changes to its original
documents from 1946 to around 1995 and still no real changes from that date to this around how you
go about your provision.
How can we maximise the contribution of housing to social and economic development
and environmental outcomes in Queensland? What are the key issues we need to work on
together?
You could look at housing from a Research and Development perspective. An example of this was Inala
where we built 3 demonstration homes in partnership with the Government being:
1. The renovation of an existing 85sqm home without the addition of extra square metres.
2. Both the renovation and extension along with a new 4 bedroom, 130sqm, brick home.
3. We provided all costing and transparent outcomes before government went to tender, outlining
what their purpose of clarity was, which was gained from the pilot study program.
In today’s world, you could release a parcel of land for say, 50 homes, that provides a homes from
15sqm to 130sqm. At the end of that program, you will have been paid for your land and received (at
no cost to Government housing) 20% to as high as 40% of that development at no cost. Ultimately this
gives you 2 outcomes: the retail price on land and a growing housing portfolio at zero cost which can
scale up to 1,000’s of homes over time using a private, public partnership approach.
The Future of Housing in Australia
Cashflow Towns - Issue 6
Working Together
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What are the opportunities for the non-Government sector (private and community) to
achieve better outcomes for people and communities through housing?
We can achieve these outcomes through demonstration projects using innovation techniques such as
a pilot study only for Queenslanders. This way they can see what the future of housing might look like
and have their say after walking through these demonstration homes. The www.futurehousingtaskforce.
com.au is a non-commercial entity that only focuses on demonstration homes for display (See Video
footage on our web site)
Brisbane City Council has agreed on a pilot study in an emerging community zone. There are a few
more communities that could benefit from this style of project; from Tiny House movement, to multigenerational housing, and also housing with inbuilt workspaces (spaces that are bedrooms during the
night and workspace during the day).
Do existing legislative frameworks provide the right level of protections for housing
consumers, and how could they be improved to ensure fairer and more equitable access to
housing?
At the moment, current thinking is around Torrens title (freehold land), with a single home, verses a 99
year lease of the land at nominal costs. The one title under a co-op housing model, company title or
volumetric title would reduce land cost significantly and provide housing from under $100,000, thereby
massively reducing rental costs.
The Future of Housing in Australia
Cashflow Towns - Issue 6
Working Together
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Are there differences in issues and approaches for housing that needs to be considered in
rural, remote and regional communities?
Recently, the Taskforce approached a regional council with a population of over 100,000 people to
provide a lower cost solution to their resident population. Instead of the average cost being $380,000,
this product’s average was under $250,000. Unfortunately, this failed to launch as the cost of
infrastructure to that council meant a rate return of $1.00 on completion to expenses of $1.60 to provide
outcome.
On a larger scale, our former taskforce member Pam Parker; (the previous Mayor of the Logan City
Council before the amalgamation was balanced in budget) after amalgamation, with the burdens of
Yarrabilba and Flagstone approved by government, became a loss for that council on return to existing
ratepayers.
To overcome this in regional areas, a pilot study project that is 100% off grid with no requirement by
council to provide water, sewerage or power - yet still get rate based benefits - is a significant step to
providing a solution in regional areas.
The Task Force announced its launch of the first complete off grid housing solution on April 15th at the
Brisbane Convention Centre in South Brisbane.
This home delivers more power than it uses, treats its own water and sewerage, and requires no
infrastructure from council to function. Ultimately, this is a level of sustainability not currently discussed
on any authority level in Australia.
The Future of Housing in Australia
Cashflow Towns - Issue 6
Working Together
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This section addresses your
question asked on page 13
of your discussion paper.
   
The conclusion to your first section being Theme 1 Sustainable Communities is as follows.
Select a parcel of Land in South East Queensland and allow The Future Housing Task Force to build a
Demonstration project at their cost or in partnership with the Government.
This parcel will demonstrate homes from under $100,000 with a range of sizes from 15 to 21, 34, 42
and graduating up to 130sqm in sizes. It will also build a complete ‘Off Grid Home’ that is open for
inspection with all of the other demonstration homes to all the people who participated in the working
together document so that we can show live all of the solutions proposed by Queenslanders and others
for the Future of Housing in Australia.
We have successfully done this for the Government in 1999 when we built 3 homes under a pilot study,
this lead to the renewal of the Suburb of Inala which at that time was restricted to no movement of any
survey peg, which would have triggered an upgrade of services at this time, according to the partners in
that project being The Brisbane City Council under Jim Soorley.
Today we are not advocating one smaller home on one smaller lot, but rather 4 homes on one block
which reduces the cost of land by 75% - a change of thinking from current logic within various
agencies. The Future Housing Task Force is a believer in building real outcomes not paper ones, this
creates massive change.
Our 3 steps in changing housing are:
1. The Power of Small.
2. The barriers start to collapse.
The Future of Housing in Australia
3. The wisdom is in the group.
Cashflow Towns - Issue 6
Working Together
18
Your next section is on Housing Affordability. Page 19.
Having won the award for the most unaffordable nation in the English speaking world for over 10 years
the Task Force decided to hold a national function in the Brisbane Convention Centre on April 15th.
Included in the line up of speakers were Minister of Housing, the Honourable Mick de Brenni, who
stated his concerns for his own children being capable of buying a home.
This subject of housing affordability is really broken into two parts, the first being established or second
hand homes which trigger a cost impost of stamp duty which represents about 80% of all transactions
in Australia today. The second part refers to the other 20% of housing: new build. These attract cost
impost of about $115,000 in taxes from Local, State and Federal Governments, and offer up to 10 years
in delay from initially taking land accepted as residential by those authorities to the point of delivering
the same as a finished lot.
In 3 major instances, State stepped in with Yarrabilba, Flagstone and Caloundra to prove that the
process can be sped up.
Our speakers have addressed all of the above privately and our decision to deliver a small taste of this
was hugely successful. From my own studies on various world tours speaking on this subject (inclusive
of my invitation to be at the opening of the Scottish Housing Expo in Europe to see 52 affordable
solutions) it made me realise that our biggest deterrent to success in affordable housing is not being
able to build demonstration homes, such as 52 homes in this case.
The Future of Housing in Australia
Cashflow Towns - Issue 6
Working Together
Friday 15 April 2016
Brisbane Convention &
Exhibition Centre
19
MORNING SESSIONS
8:00am
UPDATED PROGRAM
Luncheon Debate
Registrations, networking
8:30am
Welcome and Introductions
Mark Doonar
BDA Executive Director, Future Housing Task
Force member
1 Setting the Scene
8:40am
Opening Address
The future of housing from mortgagefree to off-grid
Samantha Boholt, Naomi
Cooper, Jack Gould, Jayden &
Murray Hansford, & Emma
Hickling The Property Games
Kevin Doodney Chair, Future
Housing Task Force
9:30am
Keynote Address
A bi-partisan agenda for affordable
housing in Brisbane
Saul Eslake
Economist (courtesy of Urbex)
10:00am Morning Tea
2 Digging Deeper, Wider
10:30am
The shape of things to come
Michael Matusik
Matusik Property Insights
11:00am
Avoiding an aged based housing
apartheid: the challenge of affordable
seniors housing
Ross Elliott
Senior Business Advisor & Consultant,
Macroplan
11.30am
WILDCARD SPEAKER
The creative suburb: building and
urban designs for suburban
innovators
Malcolm Holz
www.creativesuburb.com
12.00pm Close
12:00pm for a 12:30pm start
How small
is too small?
Sponsored by
Economic Development
Queensland
Proposition:
No one wants to live
in an apartment
Speaking FOR
the proposition
Kim Richards
COO, Architectus
Kevin Doodney
Chair, Future Housing Task Force
Speaking AGAINST
the proposition
Chris Hayton
Principal, Rothelowman Architects
David Cant
CEO, BHC Creating Liveable
Communities
Moderator
Caroline Stalker
Director, Architectus
The Debate will include
a moderated panel discussion and
Q&A from the floor
2:00pm close
AFTERNOON SESSIONS
3 Delivering the Vision
2:00pm
Caggara House: a case study in
downsizing
Joe Hurley
BHC Development Liaison Officer and
Lynda Cheshire
Associate Professor in Sociology, UniQ
2:30pm
Keynote Address
Building a stronger housing future for
every Queenslander
The Hon Mick de Brenni
Minister for Housing and Public Works
3:00pm Afternoon Tea
4 Both Ends of the Scale
3:30pm
WILDCARD SPEAKER
Ideas for ecologically responsive
projects in Brisbane
Kim Markwell
Freshwater Ecologist, E2 Design Lab
4:00pm
Small is the new Big
Ian Ugarte
Property investor, consultant and real
estate advisor
4.30pm
What have we learned? Where are we
going? Wrap-up
Mark Doonar
BDA Executive Director, Future Housing
Task Force member
5:00pm Close
To find out more about the Future
Housing Task Force go to
www.futurehousingtaskforce.com.au
To become a BDA member go to
www.bda.org.au
13/4/16
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How can we improve people’s access to sustainable and affordable housing by making
better use of existing assets, subsidies and incentives? For example incentivising the
market and non-government sectors to respond to people of communities.
Your current assets are older 3 / 4 / 5 bedroom homes that have been selected by the Queensland
Housing Commission as a one size fits all solution that are oversupplied in some council areas and
undersupplied in others. I mentioned earlier examples of Brisbane Housing Company.
Therefore I think this could better reflect the contribution BHC can make and support action to change
it, ie “with a more flexible policy framework a rolling program of realignment can be delivered using
providers like BHC, in partnership with private sector”.
The Task Force is working on larger scale answers nationally, but can only work within guidelines. (See
our letter to Victorian Government and response to same over page.)
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Housing falls into categories that overlap from
Justice, Office of Fair Trading, Residential
Tenancy Authority, Residential services, Public
works, Council, State and Federal, scores of
external planners, surveyors, planners, and
agencies in general. In a simple answer, again we
suggest a built form solution that suits all of the
above stakeholders, and opens opportunity for
further discussion.
Incentivising has been tried many times such as
NRAS which was controlled by the few to create
the many NRAS properties across Australia.
The main market did not accept this style of
incentivising so it ended up being controlled
by less than a dozen knowledge groups. It was
largely ignored by mainline developers due to
the time constraints that went along with NRAS
hence our next comment.
Noting the suggested comments on NRAS style
policies, there would need to be a coordinating
program (and providers like BHC to manage it) to
ensure that the affordability benefits weren’t just
sold for profit after settlement.
One method of incentivising involves seeing how
much a new home of median price sells for. An
example might be Logan City where the average
price for a 4 bedroom home is approximately
$400,000; therefore, any new product delivered
in Logan City that is acceptable to council and is
50% below this median gets incentivised.
That method of incentive could be the removal of
Infrastructure charges, no stamp duty, assistance
from Commonwealth on removal or reduction of
GST. As mentioned before, taxes on a $425,000
new home adds in $115,000 in costs to that
home. Removal or reduction of these fees would
deliver a dramatic new approach to affordability.
It is vitally important that the number (Price) is
50% below the average for a new 4 bedroom
home as a baseline suburb by suburb so it has a
baseline that is not easily abused. By using this
model in regional and remote communities where
the average medium may be $300,000 or less,
then the new product would fall into the $150,000
category. A revisit to banking policies will be
required as banks generally control through valuer
prices for every new product in Australia.
Other incentives would be to look at reduction or
removal of infrastructure costs for the provision
of smaller and more appropriate accommodation.
Brisbane City Council policy around student
accommodation reduces the amount of
infrastructure charges for every suite provided
by a developer from a maximum of $20,000 per
room to $2,000 per room. This policy is available
to developers until July 2017. As anticipated,
the take up has been overwhelming which
clearly indicates the need for the housing and
also developer’s enthusiasm to invest once the
contribution charges are reduced or removed.
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How can we improve housing affordability through sustainable housing practices such as
energy efficient designs and other initiatives?
Historically Australia has shown a cookie cutter approach to housing with most plans originating out
of Victoria with no regard to different climatic conditions. This makes them capable of building a home
from $1,000 per metre to $1,150 per metre inclusive of GST and all other taxes.
When we approach your question of issues such as Zero Nett Energy the main Point is solar orientation
rather than making the home fit on the block. Any change to the plan to allow for this is a cost impost
compared to air-conditioning or heating to allow for the wrong orientation.
World leaders on this subject generally are located outside of Australia who value water, power and off
grid solutions. Refer to link http://www.dezeen.com/2016/05/20/effekt-designs-regen-villages-produceown-food-energy-danish-pavilion-venice-architecture-biennale-2016/?utm_medium=email&utm_
campaign=Daily%20Dezeen%20Digest&utm_content=Daily%20Dezeen%20Digest+CID_
adcf774b05f17a7d36efaea3871a617e&utm_source=Dezeen%20Mail
This would require a change to Co-op housing models as this is not possible on Torrens title.
On a world stage Torrens title is moving to many other forms. The Task Force released its first ‘Off Grid’
home on April 15th 2016 and construction will begin in 2017. As it is nearly impossible in Australia to
deliver energy efficiency within cost constraints, the Task Force is working on a global solution.
It is possible to deliver sustainability to Australia. It is regrettable that Australia has no National interest
in solving this problem, but as another country solves the issue, we do have an ability to copy and
improve once we are shown how, why, and where.
The site for this demonstration is Mount Tamborine. As this council does not supply water or sewerage,
we are likely to get less resistance as they will not be concerned about Grid systems. If the State
Government wishes to be involved in this particular project it will be open for inspection to all decision
makers for 12 months from completion and provide food, water, power, sewerage, architectural
and solar orientation, and (on completion) create a design that blends into Australia’s memory of
architecture.
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What are the benefits of creating an affordable rental sector, and what needs to happen for
that to be successful?
26
What is your definition of affordable rental without Government having to subsidise that rental if that is
your question?
The Future Housing Task Force is currently building homes that rent from $180 per week which are
cheaper than a powered tent site in the same suburb. All homes are fully furnished - all the tenant
needs to pack is a toothbrush and clothing.
It is possible to get below this rental price point by moving to a Body Corporate or Co-op housing
model. Until you are able to define what dollar figure you are after, the above question remains
unanswerable. You can continue to provide subsidy as well which is your current and only choice.
How should the department work with its partners to extend the supply of social housing?
For example, renewal of the existing social portfolio, financing and developing a new supply.
Having partnered with the State Government for ‘Inala a New Beginning’ (See Copy), our experience
with over 650 homes is that once you start to move pegs on an existing lot, council will be at the front
door on infrastructure charges, material change of use and consultancy issues. These take a lot of time
and are simply not scalable outside of pilot projects such as Cagarra House (being 20 here and 100
there).
A rolling program of realignment to public housing stock could make a difference, considering the right
settings and the involvement of groups such as the Task Force and Brisbane Housing Company.
The State Government are looking for thousands of homes immediately. We are trialling a modular
solution where we have selected 20 blocks on Russell Island off Redland Bay. We are currently building
these homes off shore, and on arrival, recording time and build. We are recording all costs to compare
the usual methods verses Modular.
The homes we are trialling are of a conventional design, enabling us to make sensible comparisons to
our current housing practice. We can then add in all of those items that make a home more sustainable.
The Task Force remains open to this question on financing, but does not believe that you can create
scale.
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What is the role of Community housing providers in delivering people-centred services,
responding to local needs, and growing supply through potential housing transfers in the
future?
Community Housing Providers (CHPs) in Queensland are numerous (numbering over 100 across the
State) and have considerable expertise in management for clients with high needs. The constraint is
that they are generally small, lacking capital and the ability to raise capital. 
               
There are four larger providers registered under the Housing Act who have capacity to borrow and
undertake development (being BHC Creating Liveable Communities, Horizon Housing Company LTD,
Logan City Community Housing and Care Housing-Churches of Christ Care QLD). All these four have a
focus of operations in SEQ (albeit they may also be active in other regions of the State). 
               
The remainder of the organizations are mainly characterized by responsive, costs effective and caring
services for clients with high needs. Often they are very “place focused” and held in high esteem by
their local communities for their longstanding commitment to particular communities. The assets they
manage are in many cases leased by the State Government, and in doing so, the government is able to
cater for clients that would have difficulty servicing itself. 
               
Government policy, with respect to the community housing sector, has varied considerably over the
years, which has bred temperamental resilience on the part of the community housing sector, but
contributed to the small and undercapitalized profile as described above. It would be advantageous
for the State of Queensland to develop a bi-partisan strategic policy framework on the behalf of the
community housing sector. The development of such a framework would be useful in addressing issues
such as:
· Resolving constraints on the viability of CHPs that arise from older, poorly designed and costly to
maintain properties leased by the State to CHPs;
· Which CHPs should focus on management, and which should usefully contribute to the development
of properties, thereby securing a state-wide service capability;
· Incentives to encourage appropriate partnering and mergers so that overhead costs are minimized
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What is the role of Local Governments in housing affordability and how can the State better
support this? For example, if we provided incentives, or implemented “inclusionary zoning”
for affordable housing at a Local Government level, where (or how) would you see this
working and what would it deliver.
An example of this at local level is a recent consultant to the Task Force that wished to deliver
affordable housing to that community. The consultant believed that the area of Caboolture was in
need of this style of housing only to receive advice from expensive town planners and various other
consultants that this particular area imposes $400,000 in infrastructure costs. Until we address this
issue of infrastructure, it will cost more in Infrastructure and taxes then it costs to build the properties.
Responsive Housing System
Thoughts around this subject have come in part from a study of the White House papers on the failure
of support from Government during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. The lessons
learned from this one incident highlighted in particular the slow response from FEMA, the group set up
to provide immediate shelter for events such as this.
The Future Housing Task Force has used information from a specialist in Sustainability in Austin Texas,
and is committed independently of this submission to a pilot program due for public launch in 2017.
Question. 14 How do you develop and integrate?
What is clear is that homelessness is a problem on a percentage basis in all of the 565 councils across
Australia. The State Government has no shortage of land that is useful for this purpose, and as it
requires no council infrastructure, there is no real drain on ratepayers providing this outcome. With
support from Federal and State Government, all Queensland Councils have a standalone solution
available to its other 2 partners being State and Federal.
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Question 15. How do we best support?
Council by Council.
Question 16. How can Government support Innovation?
By removing the land content from the outcome while still providing off grid essential services, the
cost of each shelter is minimal, and each structure provides its own micro living spaces along the lines
learned from Professor Wilson.
It should be noted that housing another 40% of the population to the number of 10 billion (with a
continual move to city locations) will outstrip any Government resources in trying to provide an answer
on your current method of thinking.
In short, you cannot think your way out of this problem; you have to behave differently in how you tackle
this problem. The future of all of these questions is in a new form of currency called Entrepreneurship.
In conclusion, The Future Housing Task Force has over 10 projects completed in all of the areas you
have questioned to date, and this is the first time we have chosen to share these with any outsiders as
our specialist role is change through demonstration.
Currently, our media attention to all of these items is very high, and we expect to see articles on
housing in the Courier Mail to increase.
If any of these ideas appeal to the State Government, we would suggest a meeting between our full
Task Force and all of your members of the Ministerial Housing Consultative Committee to refine change,
or address all (or some) of our thoughts.
I would like to thank the Minister for attempting to address that which no minister has bothered to
address; creating a village of demonstration homes for those that participated would be an exceptional
outcome.
The Future of Housing in Australia