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Thomas L. Hutcheson's avatar

In some sense the PURPOSE of regulation is to increase the value of property by diminishing negative externalities. We do not allow a tannery to be built in the middle of a group of singe family homes even though that might increase the value of the tanner's property because it would reduce the value of the properties around it. The aggregate property values would fall.

Things are trickier when the new multifamily building will raise some nearby properties (retail shops in the area) but maybe harm others (homeowners worried about street parking or "neighborhood character." How taxes may transfer some of the increase in value stemming from a relaxation of some land use or building code restriction also has to go into sorting out costs and benefits and to whom they accrue.

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Neil Flanagan's avatar

I am not trained in economics, so a lot of this goes over my head, but I think I have got the gist of what is being proposed. By the way, the Prosper Papers have been very enlightening and I highly recommend them.

So I will put on my simple town planning hat and state that, economic theories aside, ONE way (but not the magic bullet) this issue could be addressed, in tandem with what is being proposed here, is to revisit the whole concept of "currency period" (as defined in Qld Planning Legislation) or legal life of development approval before it lapses to give it common usage.

The original theory of currency period was that in the majority of cases a developer is rarely "shovel ready" at the time of gaining their Development Approval (DA). So some leeway is given in the legislation to allow the developer to do all the necessary things to start doing the development within a reasonable time period. At one stage this was 3 years, but now is 6 years. Added to this is past (appeal) case law that has allowed this 'currency period to be extended well beyond this 6 years in certain circumstances. It begs the question - how long does it require a developer to get all his ducks in a line before substantially commencing the development for which they have received some legal right???

I still think 3 years is more than adequate IF the intent is to do the development once the DA is obtained. But lets be a bit more generous and say 4 years. If after this period of time and the development has not substantially commenced and notwithstanding any legal case law - then the higher land valuations should kick in based on the expected valuate of the final approved development. They could even be ratcheted up each year by say 5% to get things moving quicker. IF the developer has been holding this land for speculation / asset valuation purposes (i.e. they have no intentions of actually doing the development) then there will come a economic break point where they will on-sell or voluntary rescind their DA. I can only see this approach working for infill development and greenfield development may require a different approach.

I've said it before and I will say it again - this (housing affordability) is an issue that won't be solved solely through economic or land use planning, but through a range of mechanisms that all need to be better aligned so they are all working in the same direction. I don't know if all the recent Housing Summits have addressed this on a holistic basis or just on a few narrow cast basis.

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