Premier Daniel Andrews announced that six surplus government sites would be sold at discounted rates in return for 100 social homes being incorporated into the wider private housing projects.Inclusionary zoning is a system used in the US, Europe, South Australia, the ACT and parts of NSW that requires a proportion of social or affordable housing be delivered as a condition of approval for larger housing projects.
But not a single home — private or social — has been built on any of the sites; the largest of the projects has stalled completely, and the other five are languishing at various stages in the state’s planning processes. Binedell denied the building industry’s current woes had contributed to delays but did not explain why progress was so slow.“By the time construction commences, any supply chain constraints should have largely abated,” he said.
In Melbourne’s north-west, Metricon has been contracted to build 65 new homes on a former primary school site on Nicholas Street in Broadmeadows. “There needs to be more transparency and a constructive timeframe for completing the project,” he said. Instead, a spokesperson said the pilot was on track to deliver 100 new social homes across the six sites.