Ten-year wait: Up to 1300 new housing lots lay idle more than a decade after Govt announced development plans

More than 1300 homes that could provide much-needed affordable and social housing in WA are sitting undeveloped by the Cook Government up to a decade after they were announced. The majority of the new properties were earmarked to be built near Fremantle, as part of the Davis Park redevelopment in Beaconsfield — planning first began in 2015 under the Barnett Government. Other lots remain idle in in-demand areas such as Ridgewood, in Perth’s northern suburbs, and Bunbury. It has prompted renewed warnings the Government is not moving quickly enough to stabilise the real estate market which would put even more pressure on home buyers. The Beaconsfield project will see existing social housing demolished across a 10-hectare block to make way for a new residential estate with commercial space. Planning documents prepared by the Department of Communities anticipate up to 779 new dwellings could be built in the estate to accommodate a further 1870 people. The City of Fremantle began community consultation on the development plans in 2019, and signed off on its final approval the following year. The WA Planning Commission gave the final go ahead in May 2021. Nothing came of the development until August this year, when Housing Minister John Carey announced that civil works had begun on the project’s first stage. The first blocks of land will go up for sale in the new year before settlement in late 2026, more than a decade after planning on the project started. That slow progress has come at a cost — the average house price in Beaconsfield has surged by 80 per cent in five years from $712,500 in November 2020 to $1.28 million as of October — more than double the average WA mortgage. Renters are feeling the pain just as much with weekly payments almost doubling over the same period from $485 to $800 per week. Similar delays have occurred in the South West’s Tuart Brook housing development, which was expected to provide up to 300 residential lots in Usher, south of Bunbury. The 56ha State-owned site was placed on the market for expressions of interest in 2017 but nothing has happened with the land since. Earlier this year, the Cook Government relisted the land for sale, inviting potential buyers to submit an offer by November 27. North of Perth another project to deliver up to 200 social and affordable homes for retirees and over-55s on State-owned land remains a dust bowl more than seven years after the Government said construction was due to begin. The Department of Communities provided 6.8ha , on the corner of Lukin Drive and Hinchinbrook Avenue, for the not-for-profit Southern Cross Care in 2017 to develop the Haven Ridgewood estate. Haven Ridgewood was expected to deliver a medical centre, supermarket and commercial and retail space alongside homes and apartments. A five-storey apartment tower project on public-owned land at Midland to deliver 79 apartments also remains undeveloped more than eight years after the Government said construction was due to start. Real Estate Institute of WA president Suzanne Brown said the government needed to act faster on creating more housing supply or it would be unlikely the property market would stabilise, putting even more pressure on first home buyers and renters. “Housing prices in Greater Perth were up by 25 per cent last year and are continuing to rise in 2025,” Mrs Brown said. “REIWA members are the property managers, selling agents and buyer agents who are out every weekend seeing first-hand what is going on in the property market. “Our members tell us we need policy that brings new homes to market faster to increase supply and supports first home buyers trying to secure a new home, a rental system that provides affordable homes for tenants and the confidence to invest for landlords.” Housing Minister John Carey blamed the three-year COVID pandemic for creating “feasibility challenges” for each project, forcing the department to make “significant” changes to the initial plans. Mr Carey said the Haven Ridgewood estate would deliver 17 social homes in early 2026, but offered no timeline for delivering the project’s remaining 183 properties. The apartment tower at Midland is now on track to begin construction next year, but will deliver 23 fewer properties than planned, he said. “The four sites have all progressed due to further Government intervention and in most cases significant re-scoping of the projects,” Mr Carey said. “Existing site complexities at the Beaconsfield site have now been overcome, including demolition and remediation of the former Challenger TAFE site. “The demolition of some public housing properties that were at the end of their asset life, with more demolitions still to occur following tenant relocations.” Shadow housing minister David Bolt blamed the Cook Government for failing to ensure a pipeline of trained to construction workers to deliver new home builds. He said the government hadn’t properly resourced agencies, such as Western Power. The utility has waits of up to 12 months to connect new homes to the power grid and minimum waits of more than a year for large residential developments such as apartments towers. “This Government is stuck in announcement mode and now, having ignored all the signs for nearly nine years, they are playing catch up to address the severe housing crisis affecting thousands of West Australians,” Mr Bolt said. “WA has the longest build times in the country and connection delays of more than a year are stopping homes being delivered.” Mr Bolt called for the government to increase production of modular and prefabricated homes - which can be delivered in a fraction of the time of a bricks and mortar dwelling and at a more affordable price. “The solution isn’t complicated - faster approvals, faster land servicing, shorter utility connection times and a construction workforce pipeline that actually matches demand,” he said. Despite the years-long backlog of housing supply, John Carey recently revealed that he wants to deliver another 35,000 homes by taking over planning controls of precincts near train stations. Cottesloe, Mosman Park, Swanbourne, Ballajura, Bassendean, Carlisle and Oats Street, Claisebrook, Glendalough, Morley, and Redcliffe are in his sights. The Cook Government wants to achieve the goal through planning reforms which would sideline councils and render them powerless in any decisions over the projects.