Victoria’s housing puzzle: how better planning and infrastructure can make room for more homes

Established suburbs in Victoria’s largest cities already have good access to transport, schools, open space and services. But buying a home in these suburbs is out of reach for many Victorians. What are the possible solutions for one of Victoria’s most pressing challenges: how can we better use existing infrastructure to encourage more affordable homes in established suburbs?

In this webinar, we take a deep dive into this challenge and the evidence for possible solutions including recommendations in Victoria's infrastructure strategy 2025–2055. This webinar will take a close look at what rezoning near existing infrastructure, tram extensions in Melbourne’s middle suburbs and reformed infrastructure contributions could mean for housing supply in Victoria's major cities.

Our expert panel discuss:

• how changes to planning zones and rules can unlock more housing in established areas
• how a consistent approach to affordable housing near existing infrastructure could help more low-income households
• what other cities are doing to boost housing supply, and what Victoria can learn from them.

The panel

• Dr Jonathan Spear, CEO at Infrastructure Victoria
• Katherine Sundermann, Senior Lecturer of Urban Planning and Design at Monash University
• Patrick Fensham, Planning Institute of Australia Victoria President and National Leader for Urban Policy and Governance at SGS Economics and Planning
• Matthew Bowes, Senior Associate at Grattan Institute and co-author of More homes, better cities: letting more people live where they want.