What came before?

My grandparents were children of the 1920’s and 30’s, broadly described as the ‘Depression era.’ They survived the toughest economic years although there had been deep recessions in the Australian colonies in the 1880’s. After the Great war and then an economic collapse, Australians were encouraged to grow their own fruit and vegetables. Housing plots were huge by todays standards: even in urban areas, many had tennis courts and large lawns. In Brisbane, many houses had built small bomb shelters during the war years. Similar demographics were happening in other Australian urban centres.

Then came the ‘Boomer’ generation of optimism which included large migrations from Europe and economic prosperity. The Boomer generations enjoyed high employment, free education, universal health, low interest rates and affordable housing. The Australians of the 60’s and 70’s were optimistic and believed that the good times would keep on rolling. In 1973, the Labor Gough Whitlam government shook up a moribund Australian foreign policy and provided ‘free’ tertiary education from which many of the older professionals benefitted. Australia also had a resources and agricultural boom even though we were cut off from the UK market as they joined the European Economic Community. We began to trade with Japan and then more generally with Asia. Gough Whitlam ended an era of ‘White Australia’ policy which was first espoused by the Labor Party. A new wave of Asian immigration began.

Young Australians now face a very different era in which they may complete tertiary education and have large student loans to pay off. Many educated Australians are in their mid-30’s before they are in a position to have a deposit for a small apartment in an urban area. And they are delaying child rearing. The fertility of Australians has dropped from around 2.8 per couple t0 1.5. The optimism and energy have been drained from Australians under 40. In the author’s opinion, this is a catastrophic outlook which we as a nation must address.

These drivers have affected architectural expression and built form. In the 1960’s lightweight construction techniques were used to provide cheap housing for young people. Many of these dwellings have since disappeared and been replaced by apartments. The 60’s 70’s and 80’s were an era of urban sprawl and environmental vandalism.

How can Australia provide young people with the optimism and opportunity of previous Australians?

Action Needed

We can not ‘fix’ the housing crisis without political will. Australia has embraced an additional 500,000 new Australians for the last two years – a colossal intake of migration at a time when new housing starts have fallen precipitously. State Governments have ‘land banked’ vast areas of developable land and now dominate industrial and housing land sales. Around 40% of the cost of any house relates to fees and government charges, whilst land banking has increased land valuations and consequently the council fees and land taxes levied by the State government. There is no incentive on their behalf to temper rising housing and land costs.

Singapore faced a housing crisis. Now, however, ninety percent of Singaporeans own their own homes today and more than 80 percent live in government-built residential units.  In 1968, Lee Kuan Yew introduced a new measure that allowed those living in public housing to tap into their government pensions to buy their residences. According to Statistics Singapore, 90 percent of Singaporeans own their own homes today and more than 80 percent live in government-built residential units. The HDB also has an Ethnic Integration Policy that prevents racial enclaves from forming through the resale of public housing units.

(See here for a discussion of how Singapore’s housing was transformed.)

The politics of Housing, Margerett Thatcher in the UK. The Housing Act 1980 (c. 51) was an act of Parliament passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom that gave five million council house tenants in England and Wales the Right to Buy their house from their local authority. The Act came into force on 3 October 1980 and is seen as a defining policy of Thatcherism.

When we look at the Australian housing crisis, we must understand that this is the defining political issue of the day. Where can we find the space for thousands of houses and dwellings? Can we afford the additional infrastructure to service a huge increase in apartments and density in our cities? Energy, transport, utilities such as sewerage treatment, waste disposal and the provision of water?

There are opportunities in capital cities and regional cities to develop land over railways and some freeways. Roads may need to go underground in tunnels to reduce congestion on the surface. If rail airspace is not used for housing, the area may be used for sporting facilities, sports fields and similar infrastructure. The value of land in urban areas requires that every opportunity is taken to develop these areas. There are challenges as vibration dampening is required when over a freeway or railway, otherwise the significant vibration can reduce amenity. Apartments in high density areas also have issues with noise, and windows may need to be double or treble glazed with sound dampening glass.

What happens in areas of significant ‘Character Architecture?’ Can we preserve leafy open areas and still double and treble density?

In the author’s opinion, one way to ensure amenity compared to current development criteria is to ensure that all apartments have large balconies, which are of minimum dimensions say 4.6 meters by 3.6 meters as an outside room.

Next, there is offsite and prefabricated construction methodologies.

Affordable housing should be delivered by embracing prefabrication and large component assembly, to speed up erection and reduce the cost. There are issues with certification of prefabricated components and these need to be considered.

Another consideration is small builders. If the opportunity for small builders to produce housing is going to be much scarcer, how will this impact the construction industry? Higher density housing requires higher levels of capital investment and financial capability. Will an emphasis on high density shut out smaller builders who can not access the high levels of capital required to undertake these projects? It appears this is a major realignment of the industry, with small builders only able to operate in regional areas.

Australia must also accommodate around double the number of residents in major urban areas – something which may only be accommodated with higher density living. We need to overcome the notions of ‘not in my backyard!’ Our higher population areas also require investment in infrastructure. Regional towns and cities may in the near term provide much higher living standards for younger families and may be a sensible option for those who want to escape the pressures of high land costs, rents and mortgages.

None of these issues may be addressed without a political dimension, what kind of cities do we want to create? If young people flee the expensive CBD areas, where will teachers, police, fire fighters and low paid service workers come from? Should we consider building new cities in Northern Australia to accommodate the high influx of migrants? A new Singapore or Hong Kong in Northern Australia?

By Grant Spork

Grant has worked both domestically and abroad over the past 20 years collecting a number architectural experiences through a wide range of projects ranging from stadium design to hotels design and refurbishment. His strong passion for all things architecture, combined with his desire to design a more sustainable landscape is represented in each of his guest columns.

Enjoying Sourceable articles? Subscribe for Free and receive daily updates of all articles which are published on our site

Want to grow your sales, reach more new clients and expand your client base across Australia’s design and construction sector?

Advertise on Sourceable and have your business seen by the thousands of architects, engineers, builders/construction contractors, subcontractors/trade contractors, property developers and building industry suppliers who read our stories across the civil, commercial and residential construction sector