Have a question about the Housing Strategy

• What is a Housing Strategy?

• A Housing Strategy is a Council planning policy document that guides future residential development and the location and types of homes needed for next 15 years to suit a municipality’s forecast population.

• Why do we need a Housing Strategy?

• Lifestyle and preference changes have affected the housing market in several ways, creating demand for new and diverse housing. Victoria is experiencing unprecedented population growth predominantly driven by migration, and Melbourne is projected to become Australia’s largest city.

  Nillumbik is a low growth municipality comparatively due to many constraints such as the high cost of housing in the Shire exacerbated by a constrained Urban Growth Boundary (and many more). Local governments are required by State planning policy to effectively plan for housing changes and population growth. This is achieved by considering relevant environmental, social and economic factors, and where conflict arises, balance competing objectives in favour of alignment to State Planning Policy objectives, net community benefit and sustainable development.

• What land in Shire will the Housing strategy apply to?

• The Study area for the Housing Strategy includes all areas with underlying land use zones where the purpose of the zone is to allow for residential use (among other uses). This does not include any zones located in the Green Wedge (e.g. Rural Conservation Zone or Green Wedge Zone). Localities that are covered by the Housing Strategy include:

  • Diamond Creek
  • Eltham
  • Eltham North
  • Greensborough
  • Hurstbridge
  • North Warrandyte
  • Panton Hill
  • Plenty
  • Research
  • St Andrews
  • Wattle Glen
  • Yarrambat

  
  

• What are the limitations to the Nillumbik Housing Strategy and Council’s role?

• Council can support the supply of housing through land use planning and zoning, community partnerships, support services, data collection and analysis, and community engagement to understand housing needs and preferences and advocate to other levels of government for action on behalf of the community.

  Any recommended changes to building or planning rules established by Commonwealth or State Governments would require advocacy by the Council outside of the Housing Strategy.

  The Housing Strategy will not:

  • Influence population growth from occurring in Nillumbik;
  • Influence housing market or individuals' housing preferences;
  • Force people to move house or develop their land;
  • Recommend the application of planning controls that run contrary to State Government planning policy, e.g. permitting residential development in rural areas, or controls that are unavailable under the Victoria Planning Provisions;
  • Prevent higher density development from occurring in some locations;
  • Immediately rezone land or change current planning controls;
  • Influence any factors outside of the council’s role (e.g. immigration policy, housing-related taxation, social housing investment, welfare support, rental assistance, and major infrastructure funding largely fall under the jurisdiction of higher levels of government); and
  • Duplicate contents already covered by other strategic works (i.e. the adopted Nillumbik Neighbourhood Character Strategy 2023).
• How do existing planning policies affect the Housing Strategy?

• See the flow chart for an overview of how State planning policy affects the Housing Strategy and the Nillumbik Planning Scheme.

• Why your feedback is important?

• Engaging our community to better understand needs is an essential part of developing the Housing Strategy. Your feedback will help us understand if we have accurately captured the housing issues in Nillumbik, and it will help shape the future of housing in the Shire.

• What will Council do with my feedback?

• All written feedback to the draft Housing Strategy will be formally considered by Council at a Council Meeting.

  Council will consider this feedback and any recommended changes when deciding whether or not to adopt the Draft Housing Strategy.

• What is neighbourhood character?

• The neighbourhood character is the interplay between development, vegetation and topography in the public and private domains that distinguishes one residential area from another.

  Neighbourhood character is one of the key considerations when developing a housing strategy. To enhance and protect our neighbourhood character, Council developed and adopted the Neighbourhood Character Strategy in December 2023 (See more). The Housing Strategy and the Neighbourhood Character Strategy will work together to help balance housing growth and protect neighbourhood character.

• How does population affect a Housing Strategy?

• The Victorian housing market is undergoing significant changes largely driven by shifts in population over time. In Nillumbik, as in Victoria as a whole, these changes include an ageing population, fewer children, smaller households, and evolving lifestyle preferences. These shifts have influenced the demand, type, and location of housing.

  Challenges related to affordability and changing lifestyle preferences have led to increased demand for diverse housing options. While Victoria is experiencing rapid population growth and Melbourne is expected to become Australia's largest city, Nillumbik has the lowest population growth forecast among all areas in Metropolitan Melbourne.

• What is the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB)?

• The metropolitan strategy release in 2002 known as Melbourne 2030: Planning for sustainable growth established an Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) around Melbourne to better manage outward expansion in a coordinated manner.

  The purpose of the UGB is to direct urban growth to areas best able to supply appropriate infrastructure and services and protect other valuable peri-urban land (and environmental features) from urban development pressures.

  The UGB applies around the urban areas of metropolitan Melbourne. (See more)

• Can a Housing Strategy move the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB)?

• The UGB marks the boundary or outer extent of a municipality’s existing or potential residential development. The Nillumbik Housing Strategy will not and cannot have any impact on the location of the UGB in the Shire. The strategy cannot question and/or seek to vary the location of the UGB, as the location of the UGB is fully determined by the State Government, as outlined within the Planning and Environment Act 1987.

• What is affordable housing?

• The forms of affordable housing include:

  • Social housing – a broad term that includes public housing and community housing (recent Housing Statement by the state government has committed to building 800,000 new social housing dwellings).
    • Public housing – long-term rental housing owned and managed by state governments.
    • Community housing – long-term rental housing owned and/or managed by community housing organisations.
  • Subsidised market housing – housing that is provided by the private market through a number of possible subsidy arrangements. Subsidies may support rental or ownership models.

  In some instances, private market housing may qualify as affordable housing if it is affordable for very low to moderate income households. This is largely dependent on price, property type, location and size. However, for a number of reasons, the private market is increasingly unable to provide affordable housing in many neighbourhoods.

• What is a Small Second Dwelling?

• A small second dwelling is a home up to 60 square metres, also known traditionally as a granny flat, secondary dwelling or a dependent person’s unit. Recent changes to all Victorian Planning Schemes determined that a small second home no longer requires a planning permit in most cases where there are no flooding, bushfire, environmental or other overlays. A small second home still requires a building permit in order to meet siting, amenity, design and safety requirements, and cannot be subdivided or separately sold off from the main home. (See more)

• What is a Residential Development Framework?

• A residential development framework provides a means to balance the outputs of a housing strategy and neighbourhood character strategy by enabling a planning authority to holistically plan for housing change over 15 years to meet their obligations under clause 11.02-1S of the PPF.

  A residential development framework will normally comprise the outputs of the strategic work undertaken through the development of a local housing strategy and/or a local neighbourhood character strategy and any other pieces of strategic work such as a heritage, landscape, environmental or land capability study. (See more)

• What is housing growth capacity and how much do we need?

• Housing growth capacity typically refers to the potential for additional housing units to be built within a given area while considering factors such as land availability, zoning regulations, infrastructure capacity, environmental considerations, and community preferences.

  Local governments often conduct studies to estimate housing growth capacity. These studies involve analysing current land use patterns, demographic trends, housing demand, and development constraints to assess how much additional housing could feasibly be accommodated over a certain period.

  It's important to understand that the growth capacity we estimate doesn't guarantee actual growth. When it comes to housing growth, we make theoretical calculations because it's not practical to analyse every site's constraints individually. We assume that all developable lots will be fully developed, but the future is uncertain. We can't control the housing market or population growth. We estimate our housing growth capacity to make sure Nillumbik Shire can handle our projected growth while respecting neighbourhood character.

• How is growth capacity estimated?

• First, we work out what our dwelling demand is, based on population forecasts. Then we work out how much capacity there is based on the neighbourhood character area, because each character area has a different dwelling potential. We then take into consideration the following:

  • Number of existing lots
    • Based on Council GIS database
  • Number of vacant lots
    • Based on Council GIS data base
  • Subdivision potential
    • Based on the theoretical dwellings that may be developed in a particular area
    • For example, in some lots in a Low Density Residential Zone (LDRZ) area, the planning scheme stipulates a minimum subdivision area of 4000sqm (in other words, land under 4000sqm cannot be subdivided). Therefore, lots larger than 8000sqm can theoretically be subdivided to contain additional dwellings (i.e. an 8000sqm lot can be theoretically subdivided into a maximum 2 lots). The bigger the lot, the more it can be potentially subdivided.
  • Discounting of all lots that are developed and including all vacant lots.
  • Discounting Environmental Significance Overlays because these will largely limit development (although this is not always the case)
    • Discounting lots affected by ESOs (12.1%). Potential population capacity

  It's important to understand that the growth capacity we estimate doesn't guarantee actual growth. When it comes to housing growth, we make theoretical calculations because it's not practical to analyse every site's constraints individually. We assume that all developable lots will be fully developed, but the future is uncertain. We can't control the housing market or population growth. We estimate our housing growth capacity to make sure Nillumbik Shire can handle our projected growth while respecting neighbourhood character.

  
  

Have a question about the Community Reference Group

• What is the draft Housing Strategy Community Reference Group (CRG)?

• The CRG is a group selected from the community to participate in the development of the draft Nillumbik Housing Strategy 2024. The CRG helps provide a community voice on the preparation of the Housing Strategy before a first draft is more widely exhibited to the Nillumbik community.

• What is the role of the CRG?

• The CRG considers a wide range of background and technical information that is needed to support the development of a municipal housing strategy for Nillumbik Shire, and (amongst other things) contribute ideas and feedback based on lived experience and local knowledge of housing needs in Nillumbik. For further information, refer to the CRG Terms of Reference in the Document Library on this page.

• Why do we need the CRG?

• Council decided on 23 June 2020 that a new Neighbourhood Character Strategy and Community Reference Group would be priorities to inform any future Nillumbik Housing Strategy.