Strategies for improving land delivery for residential development: a case of the north-west metropolitan Melbourne

Abstract

One of the factors affecting the housing supply is closely linked to the time taken to complete the land development assessment approval. Delays in completing the development process on time often results in difficulties of increasing housing supply. In parallel, housing demand continues to increase with increasing net population in Australian urban areas. This research aims to identify the current issues and challenges of releasing land for housing development in the established suburbs of Melbourne north-west area (involving six local government areas: Brimbank, Maribyrnong, Moreland, Moonee Valley, Hume and Melton). An application of multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) using the strategic residential potential assessment (SRPA) method is considered. This is designed to improve the method of land administration strategies for housing development. The analysis is set within the context of investigating land preparation processes and their impacts on land availability for housing supply. The research adopts interview techniques to gain insight into the processes of land release through the activities of town planners in the selected local council areas. The proposed SRPA methods are based on a land-use assessment approach that is underpinned by the current residential land-use schemes legislated by the Department of Transport Planning and Local Infrastructure.1 The results of applying the proposed model reveal the associated spatial pattern of areas with potential for residential development relative to the public transport and public service locations.