Darebin Appropriate Development Association

Protect our community

Blog

Toward Solving the Housing Crisis: The DADA Approach

Too many experts and politicians offer simplistic solutions to the housing crisis, mostly framed by their own specific interests.

DADA has no interest other than a very genuine need to see every person in safe, affordable well designed housing that develops supportive, diverse and sustainable communities.

DADA believes a multi pronged strategy is needed and should include, but is not limited to, the following ideas:

  1. Removal of negative gearing concession on more than one investment property. According to Crikey, 63% of federal politicians own more than one property and 37% own three or more.
  2. Outlaw money laundering through real estate by implementing tranche 2 reforms so that lawyers, accountants and real estate professionals need to actually know their customers identity and where their money actually comes from.

https://www.austrac.gov.au/sites/default/files/2019-07/sa-brief-real-estate_0.pdf

https://www.corrs.com.au/insights/aml-and-ctf-gatekeeper-reform-what-could-tranche-2-reforms-look-like-in-australia

  1. Place restrictions on the short term rental market specifically on the rental of whole houses and apartments. Spain and other countries have done this to alleviate the housing shortage.
  2. Institute significant fines for those who landbank empty properties. Ensure all fines go to the public housing building fund.
  3. Stop giving public land to developers for a measly 10% increase in public housing. Public assets should never be sold or worse, given to private operators.
  4. Build more public housing targeted specifically to those at highest risk of homelessness for example, women over 55, youth, those with disabilities, new migrants.
  5. Fix rents to alleviate rental stress as a cause of homelessness.
  6. Improve planning laws to include affirmative requirements for the type of housing needed to best address the needs of those at risk and the community generally.
  7. Improve planning laws to ensure good quality housing for all.
  8. Reinstate qualified government building inspectors and building surveyors to ensure better quality and safer homes.
  9. Implement an emergency rental fund drawing funds from taxing short term rentals.

(Photo: Migrant Mother:Florence Owens Thompson by Dorothea Lange/Library of Congress)

Inquiry into the protections within the Victorian Planning Framework 2022

DADA is very pleased to be represented a number of times in the interim report of the inquiry into protections within the Victorian Planning Framework.

The  The report was tabled in Parliament on 2 August 2022. You can read it here: https://new.parliament.vic.gov.au/get-involved/inquiries/inquiry-into-the-protections-within-the-victorian-planning-framework/reports

The DADA submission is here: DADA submission to the planning and heritage inquiry

What Doesn’t Work, Why?

It was just not necessary to remove this very old, approx 60 year old, magnificent magnolia…
… to replace it with this. The problem is that unless the replacement plantings are of a significant size there is little imperative to nurture. Much replacement vegetation in new developments is left to die off. We loose the softening effects of established gardens and are left with ugly visual mass of the development. Not an improvement.