Urban planners advocate for more regional centres and housing diversity to tackle nationwide affordability  

Regional towns and diverse housing types must be part of Australia’s affordable housing solution, award-winning urban planners say. It follows the NSW Government’s announcement that more housing density will come to Sydney’s transit areas to deliver much-needed entry-level mid-rise dwellings – particularly as the city recently climbed to a new median house price peak of $1.6 million.  

Sam George is Principal and urban planner at Hatch – a global multidisciplinary leader in planning, urban design, engineering, infrastructure, energy and metals. He says that the nation’s housing crisis requires a multi-pronged approach of mixed density solutions. While affordable homes near metropolitan stations are vital, the nation should look beyond major cities to towns just a couple of hours from those cities where existing infrastructure and diverse housing could be built on to create thriving communities.  

The remote working trend has opened the door to still affordable but stunning country corridors where families could bag a house-and-land package for half the Sydney median price. According to house price data from Domain Group’s latest quarterly report, some NSW regional centres still offer median property prices for under $500,000, such as the Armidale Regional, where it’s $465,000. On the Central Coast, North Gosford median property prices are $770,000, and in the Hunter Valley it’s $700,000. Towns such as Cessnock boast even lower medians of $590,000. In Shellharbour it’s $853,000. 

Sam says: “These figures reveal the value of regional centres across Australia where prices are not only attainable, but great infrastructure already exists. And with the Federal Government announcing funding for 46 new local priority infrastructure projects throughout regional Australia, totalling $207 million as the first stage of the Growing Regions Program, the time has never been better for developers to turn their gaze away from the city capitals.” 

UDIA 2024 Excellence in Masterplanned Communities award winner: Huntlee in NSW’s Hunter Valley 

Tim Trefry, a Partner at Hatch and Fellow of the Planning Institute of Australia, has been responsible for the design, approval and delivery of over 15,000 residential lots on a range of projects – including the award-winning Huntlee masterplanned community in the NSW Hunter Valley wine region (pictured, top).  

Huntlee is an outstanding example of how to build affordable and desirable communities in stunning yet still untapped regional pockets.  

The 25-year Huntlee project is the Hunter region’s first new regional town centre in 50 years. It will eventually be home to 20,000 residents across 7500 homes and sits at the top end the wine country drive, just 2.5 hours from Sydney. To be completed by 2040, it recently earned the UDIA 2023 Excellence in Masterplanned Communities gong for setting the greenfield masterplanned community standard. 

Huntlee is on the cusp of launching the next stage of both its 200Ha Town Centre and residential homesites, with sales ramping up as more buyers ditch dearer lots closer to urban centres.  

Tim says: “Huntlee’s extraordinary success so far is a testament to its innovation, wealth of amenities, and sheer liveability. The sales figures show us there’s immense buyer appetite. With Huntlee set to deliver thousands of jobs and play an integral role in the local economy, it also tells us that intelligently designed masterplanned communities in some of the nation’s lush but overlooked regions can more than just deliver affordable homes in the midst of a housing crisis, but revitalise entire towns and areas.” 

Huntlee takes its learnings from the award-winning and Hatch-designed Ellenbrook community in Western Australia, which made headline news 20 years ago for being one of the nation’s first towns that took liveability to a new level. Ellenbrook was built on a sand quarry on the fringe of Perth’s urban sprawl and has been designed to encompass a growing population that could enjoy living in a safe and vibrant community.  

Tim says it is that masterplanned DNA that must be inbuilt in future regional centres with liveability, walkability and community amenities key to their success.   

“We know that communities such as Ellenbrook and Huntlee will increasingly play a vital role in the national affordable housing solution and a role in delivering sustainable and liveable places where families can thrive.”