An interesting messaging pivot from the Victorian Government around SRL in response to the growing #housingcrisis.
SRL East is said to support 70,000 new homes across the six stations. But is it really a response to the housing issue we face now?
The first SRL station won't open until 2034 at the earliest. Planning Scheme changes are expected much sooner, likely at the end of 2026, early 2027.
The thesis around investing in these precincts only follows infrastructure investment, it doesn't lead. Therefore relatively little, if any, new development would be expected until well into the mid-2030s.
It's also disingenuous to call it 70,000 additional homes. Many of these precincts could have already supported quite a lot of housing under existing planning settings, i.e. Box Hill, Glen Waverley.
The truth is a tiny proportion of the 70k are likely to be built during the #housingstatement period, and it's questionable how much of that will be specifically catalysed by SRL
We might unlock some extra dwellings in 10+ years time, but it will make it harder to deliver meaningful new #housingsupply in the interim, especially in the apartment sector. And I've explained in great detail why #apartment #development won't be the solution to scale housing supply in the mid-term – especially not at the affordable end.
Ultimately, pointing to SRL as the solution to solving housing is not washing with Victorians, as the RedBridge Group Australia polling clearly demonstrates. And I think they are 100% right.
🤔 In the meantime we wait to see what actual, #feasible housing supply is unlocked – and soon.