State plans for more affordable housing

The state government has launched a new expressions of interest process for affordable housing and has beefed up its shared equity home loan scheme in the latest initiatives to help ease the high costs of housing in Western Australia.

Housing Minister Troy Buswell today announced the expressions of interest (EOI) scheme would procure housing across a range of areas, including social housing, government regional officers housing and Keystart shared equity home loans.

Mr Buswell said the new process would underpin government and industry efforst to increase the supply of houses at an affordable price.

"With a focus on new construction, the EOI supports the housing industry at a time when new building approvals have declined and allows the Government to maximise its investment in social and affordable housing for West Australians," Mr Buswell said in a statement.

"The EOI will have a strong emphasis on affordable design and development, promoting the construction and availability of smaller houses to meet the needs of one-to-two person households as well as those seeking their first home.

"It will offer builders and developers the opportunity to bring innovative development proposals to Government.

The Minister said the revised and expanded low deposit shared equity loan scheme, provided through Keystart, would increase entry-level home ownership opportunities for up to 2,000 applicants.

"Subject to demand, the State Government will increase Keystart assistance to low-to- moderate income households through a boost in the shared equity loan opportunities for disadvantaged groups," he said.

Residential developer Cedar Woods' state manager, Stuart Duplock, welcomed the initiative, but said it fell short of addressing the pressing issues in the residential property sector.

"We're pleased to see a policy that supports homebuyers enter the market," Mr Duplock said.

"This policy however, only addresses the symptoms and is a short term solution.

"We'd like to see the State Government invest into the causes of the current lack of affordable housing, such as poorly coordinated infrastructure delivery, complex development conditions on planning approvals, a skills shortage in the construction industry adding to wage costs, and environmental constraints that are causing delays in delivering consistent affordable housing to West Australians."