Chris Johnson

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EXPERT OBSERVATION
The announcement by the City of Sydney Council of new rules to support the night-time economy is good news for the many people living in urban apartments.
The character of inner city areas like Surry Hills, Glebe, Barangaroo, Green Square and Waterloo has changed significantly with the arrival of so many people living in apartments in these areas.
It is good that the City of Sydney has responded to this evolving urban lifestyle by relaxing trading hours to support a night time economy.
In the lead up to the recent New South Wales election there was significant concern raised by some politicians about the extent of apartment development, and that they did not seem to support the new lifestyle that comes with greater density.
Apartment dwellers, particularly millennials, are looking for a ‘sharing’ lifestyle where they live close to amenities and an exciting urban scene.
The moves by the City of Sydney, driven by Councillor Jess Scully, to reactivate the night time economy in the urban precincts will be strongly supported by the community.
The Urban Taskforce has developed a campaign to support young apartment dwellers and their more sharing lifestyle called ‘<a href="http://www.welcomehome.org.au" target="_blank">Welcome Home</a>’  where we profile the stories of younger apartment dwellers and their more urban and more sharinglifestyle.
One example is James who lives in an apartment in Summer Hill.
“I love the local music scene here in Summer Hill. I’m just a stone’s throw from my local bar that has live music every Thursday, everyone knows everyone.” says James.
The initiative by the City of Sydney will help many inner city residents get to interesting music venues and night time bars.
Sydney is a global city and an important part of our diverse community are the younger people who want a lively, creative music and arts scene.
The Urban Taskforce recommends other councils, like the City of Parramatta and North Sydney, should follow the initiatives of the City of Sydney and establish vibrant night time economies as more apartments are built in their centres which are occupied by young people wanting to explore the surrounding activities that come with a night time economy.
CHRIS JOHNSON is the Urban Taskforce CEO.
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A thriving night-time economy needs urban apartment density: Urban Taskforce's Chris Johnson 

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New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows NSW apartment approvals fall by 33% over the last year, says the Urban Taskforce.
The apartment market in NSW is slowing rapidly, according to the latest data, says UrbanTaskforce CEO Chris Johnson. ‘A year ago apartment approvals were 3,021 for December 2017, but the December 2018 figures indicate a drop of 994 to a total of 2027 apartments. This is a fall of 33 percent in a year, and it is likely that the fall in approvals wil lcontinue.’
Victoria is ahead of NSW in apartment approvals over the last quarter, with 15,472 approvals compared to NSW’s 14185 approvals. Victoria’s population is 20% smaller than NSW so approvals would generally be 20 percent lower, however they are ahead by 9 percent.
The decline in apartment approvals in NSW is influenced by many factors, including the Royal Banking Commission, tighter lending restrictions, uncertainty around housing policy due to the upcoming state and federal elections, declining house prices and anti- development rhetoric driven by campaigning politicians.
These factors undermine confidence in new housing construction. Whoever wins the state government election in March should look to implement new housing policies to encourage the supply of homes and ensure that jobs and investment in the property sector is maintained.
The Urban Taskforce is keen to work with all political parties to develop policies that can deliver sufficient housing supply to accommodate Sydney’s growth in the coming years.
The graph below are based on the Australian Bureau of Statistics data.
<a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/images/2019/2/5/housing%20approvals.jpg" target="_blank">Click here</a> to enlarge:
<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2019/2/5/housing%20approvals.jpg" alt="">
 
Source: Urban Taskforce
CHRIS JOHNSON is the Urban Taskforce CEO.
 
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Alarming decline in housing approvals no longer can be ignored: Chris Johnson

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EXPERT OBSERVATION
The record number of completions of 40,009 new homes in the year to February 2018 is good news for housing supply with strong population growth.
The 40,009 housing completions are above the required 20 year average of 36,250 per year which is good news.
The approvals for these homes came a few years ago at the peak of the housing boom and it is good to see that the combination of government policies and the hard work of the development industry is paying off.
The big change from earlier years on housing production has been the rise in the proportion of new homes that are apartments which are close to 70% of the total.
A decade ago detached houses and apartments were approved at similar numbers but now apartments and multi-unit dwellings are in the majority.
Changes to the planning system have also helped with the establishment of planning panels for large projects and the increase in complying development approval streams.
Most apartment projects are larger scale projects so the role of planning panels in assessing these will continue to be important.
While the housing completions have reached record levels the approvals are dropping.
In February 2017 there were 58,774 approvals compared to the 51,994 housing approvals in February 2018. This is an 11.5% drop and it appears that this will go down further.
Clearly the housing development industry will go through peaks and troughs but it is important that government policies continue to support both strong approvals and strong completions and do not add additional cost to development or add red tape.
The Urban Taskforce is keen to work with the NSW Government to ensure a consistent flow of new homes for Sydney.
CHRIS JOHNSON is the Urban Taskforce CEO.
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Sydney's record home completions is good news: Chris Johnson

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EXPERT OBSERVATION
The recent announcement by the NSW leader of the Opposition that Metro West rail will be preferred over other lines misses the point that the full network for Sydney is required.
NSW Opposition Leader, Luke Foley, has announced that he will fast track the Metro West rail if elected at the state election and cancel the Sydenham to Bankstown rail line.
But Sydney needs both rail links as part of a broader infrastructure network for the city.
As Sydney moves from a city of five million people to eight million over the next 40 years the city will need to shift to public transport with greater housing densities around railway stations.
Ultimately the city will need a metro rail network similar to London’s with a circle line and a central line.
The Urban Taskforce has proposed a structure for Sydney’s metro based on a central line that requires West Metro as an important link but we have also proposed a circle line that carries the North West rail through North Sydney and along the Sydenham to Bankstown line ultimately to the proposed Western Sydney airport.
Clearly there will need to be greater densities around railway stations on this network and it is unhelpful for the Opposition Leader to call this ‘shoehorning an extra 100,000 people into high-rise towers’.
The Metro West link is probably more important than the Sydenham to Bankstown line in the short term as the current western rail line is approaching capacity.
It is positive that the Opposition is committed to this important piece of infrastructure.
The Urban Taskforce encourages all political parties to support new metro rail infrastructure in the lead up to the next state election but we are very concerned about rhetoric from both major parties that is against the development of apartments near transport modes.
Chris Johnson is the chief executive office of the Urban Taskforce.
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Sydney rail projects need to meet broader infrastructure needs: Chris Johnson 

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EXPERT OBSERVATION
The February 2018 data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) shows NSW housing approvals flattening while Victorian approvals are higher.
NSW approved 5673 new dwellings in trend terms in February 2018 which is similar to January but well down on the July 2016 high point of 6,800.
The smaller state of Victoria approved almost 1,000 more dwellings in February with 6,577 approvals. Clearly Victoria is firing in the new dwelling market.
Victoria’s success has been mainly through their strong house market with 3,353 approvals compared to 2,471 house approvals in NSW. The NSW house approvals have been consistent over the last few years with 2,432 approvals in July 2016.
The NSW apartment market seems to have flattened with 3,202 approvals in February 2018 similar to the January approvals of 3,183. The current approvals for apartments, however, are well down on the July 2016 high point of 4,368 approvals.
The current flattening of housing approval numbers in NSW reflects the uncertain environment created by tighter bank lending and the potential for future levies for affordable housing by councils and the removal of the infrastructure contribution cap.
With a state election less than a year away there is a growing concern about over development being expressed by political candidates to gain the support of residents unhappy about the rate of change.
It is important that politicians at state and local level get behind the Greater Sydney Region Plan that defines the need for 725,000 new homes over a 20 year period.
The plan for A Metropolis of Three Cities sets the agenda for where the cities growth should go and this independent plan produced by the Greater Sydney Commission needs the support of all political parties.
The Urban Taskforce is keen to work with the NSW Government and the Greater Sydney Commission to ensure that housing supply targets are met.
See below graph based on ABS figures
Click here <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/images/2018/4/4/approvals.jpg" target="_blank">to enlarge.</a>
<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2018/4/4/approvals.jpg" alt="">
CHRIS JOHNSON is the Urban Taskforce CEO.
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NSW housing approvals flat, fall behind Victoria: Chris Johnson

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EXPERT OBSERVATION
The proposal by the NSW Treasurer to establish a NSW Productivity Commission could dramatically help with housing supply.
The proposal by NSW Treasurer, Dominic Perrottet, to set up a state version of the successful Productivity Commission that operates at the federal level is good news for the supply of housing across the state.
At the federal level the Productivity Commission has been very critical of the anti-competition issues that flow from restrictive zoning and of the amount of red tape in the NSW planning system.
They have also critiqued the complex planning systems across Australia as impacting on the nation’s productivity.
A critical role for the NSW Productivity Commission will be to review the impact of the multi-layered planning system has on housing supply and therefore housing affordability.
The new commission must look at the haphazard, piece-meal approach to affordable housing where each council seems to be developing its own policy yet the Greater Sydney Commission has a different approach.
The NSW Department of Planning and Environment has yet another policy position and Landcom has now been tasked to get involved in housing affordability.
These multiple levels of policy interventions seem to be unco-ordinated and confusing and are creating uncertainty and leading to a loss of productivity by the housing industry.
The report to the NSW Government by the former Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, Glenn Stevens, sets out a number of important economic directions that impact on productivity related to housing affordability.
Stevens raised concerns that planning decisions were often delegated to very local levels without any representation on behalf of the future population expected to require housing in the state.
The NSW Government has stated that 725,000 new homes are required for Sydney over the next 20 years but even in boom times we have not reached the average of 36,200 homes a year.
Clearly there is a productivity problem with Sydney’s housing supply.
Glenn Stevens also raised concerns about the zoning and approvals process and that these regulatory costs could add $150,000 to the cost of a dwelling in Sydney compared to a similar sized dwelling in Melbourne or Brisbane.
A NSW Productivity Commission must look at these issues.
The NSW Productivity Commission must also look at the impact of the government’s proposal to remove caps on infrastructure payments over the next four years so that extra costs do not simply add to the cost of housing.
The Urban Taskforce is keen to work with the proposed NSW Productivity Commission by providing ‘on the ground’ examples of where well-meaning regulations that control new housing are simply adding significant costs to a new home.
There are too many well-meaning state and local government regulations and levies that are contributing to the excessive costs of Sydney’s new housing and the new productivity commission will need to take a leadership role on behalf of consumers of new housing.
Chris Johnson is the Urban Taskforce CEO.
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NSW Productivity Commission could help housing supply: Chris Johnson

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GUEST OBSERVER
The latest ABS data on housing approvals indicates a fall in NSW compared to an increase in Victoria.
The approval numbers for apartments in New South Wales have dropped at the end of 2017 according to the latest ABS trend data.
We have seen a number of factors combining in the Sydney housing market that are discouraging developers from trying to get planning approvals leading to an approval slowdown.
The banks are continuing to minimise lending for new housing, the investment from China has cooled, many councils are proposing significant levies for affordable housing, there is a growing negative community reaction to new housing and the state government is removing the cap on contribution levels by councils.
When all of these factors combine confidence levels from developers decrease and the risk from new developments increases.
The December figures for NSW housing approvals by trend are 5,268 compared to a robust Victoria performance of 6,570. The number of apartment approvals is falling fast in NSW from 4,326 in July 2016 to 2,888 in December 2017. The Victorian apartment approvals for December 2017 are 3,361.
The NSW Government has been talking about approaches to affordable housing over the last year but expected guidance notes and an expected Housing State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP) have not been forthcoming.
This has led to uncertainty amongst the development industry about what extra levies may be added to a new housing project. The recently elected Inner West Council late last year proposed an affordable housing levy of 30% of apartments to be given back to the council from all new apartment developments. If excessive levies like this occur clearly new housing will slow down even further.
Another example of confidence levels decreasing is the pull out by respected developer Mirvac from a large housing project in the Hills Shire due to excessive apartment sizes required by councils above state standards.
Both the council in the Hills Shire and local members of state parliament have been attacking development proposals as being too big relative to existing infrastructure despite a new metro rail line being built by the state government.
While the NSW economy is in good shape compared to other states there are strong signals that confidence is dropping in the housing development sector which is a major employer of jobs.
The NSW Premier, Gladys Berejiklian, has stated that housing supply is the key to housing affordability so the government must do all it can to support more approvals for new homes through the planning system.
See below graphs based on ABS figures: 
<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2018/2/1/NSW1.jpg" alt="" style="font-size: 12.16px;">
Chris Johnson is the CEO of Urban Taskforce.
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Chris Johnson

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