Life Cycle Costing and Housing Affordability

Initiatives such as Melbourne 2030 and the incorporation of environmental performance into planning policies and building codes are all linked. Longstanding and recent policy objectives are in place across Victoria, and Australia, at various levels, including in national priorities, state planning frameworks, local authorities, and the private sector, all relating to the provision of appropriate housing to meet needs in an efficient way. Getting the right balance between land supply, build costs and fiscal support measures to ensure housing is affordable is a challenge which concerns a wide range of stakeholders. Each has its own set of priorities and challenges. ‘Joined-up’ thinking and governance is the most appropriate way to ensure that these disparate aims are met. ‘Best value’ encompasses the aim of all the agencies involved in providing and delivering the regulatory and development framework for housing. It also generates a range of questions. The term encompasses many of the ‘sustainability’ parameters in close juxtaposition, such as environment, economics and social and cultural issues, which creates potential tensions and trade-offs. The question is also raised; ‘best value’ to who?

This project will take the debate a step further and facilitate the development of housing sustainability and affordability policies. It will inform various areas of the housing debate, such as urban/suburban land use and densification, planning and land use, building codes stringency, and benchmarking and scope of planning environmental assessment tools.

RMIT and the Building Commission are developing this research project in order to foster engagement with the issues facing housing provision at the highest and most integrated level.

Project Descriptions

No projects under this cluster confirmed