Timeline

  • Timeline item 1 - complete

    Present draft to Councillors: 15 May 2023

    The draft Housing Strategy was presented at an Urban Planning Delegated Committee (UPDC) meeting.

  • Timeline item 2 - active

    Community consultation: Mid-2023

    Consultation is open until 5 pm on Friday 16 June 2023.

  • Timeline item 3 - incomplete

    Consider community feedback: Mid-to-late 2023

    We will prepare a report of community feedback and present a recommendation to Councillors at a future UPDC meeting.

  • Timeline item 4 - incomplete

    Consideration of draft Housing Strategy by Councillors: Late-2023

    the UPDC will consider the community feedback received and decide whether to adopt the Housing Strategy.

About our draft Housing Strategy

We’re updating our Housing Strategy to plan for our community’s housing needs over the next 15 years. This strategy will set an overarching framework and is guided by the Boroondara Community Plan, which you can find on our Boroondara Community Plan 2021–2031 page.

Our Housing Strategy will also help us advocate to the Victorian and Australian governments about housing issues that are outside our control.

For our new draft strategy, we have considered the latest evidence, Census data and projections to understand:

  • how our community lives
  • changes to population
  • changes to housing needs
  • what our community values
  • current and upcoming housing challenges.

Some recommended actions in the draft strategy, like potential policy changes, will need more work before we can put them in place. This includes further strategic work, as well as consultation with the community.

What’s in our draft strategy

3 key strategic directions

Our draft strategy identifies 3 key strategic directions to articulate our approach to responding to Boroondara’s needs and challenges.

  • Housing diversity in appropriate locations

  • Housing that is sustainable and achieves design excellence

  • Housing that meets the needs of all residents, now and in the future

How our community lives

Important insights into Boroondara's housing needs and how these might change over time comes from an understanding of the current population and household trends.

Did you know that most households in Boroondara are couples with children? There has also been an increase in couple-only or single person households.

Our population continues its ageing trend, with an increase in people over 65 (15% in 2011 and 18% in 2021). Our dominant housing type is stand-alone houses (53%), followed by medium density (29%) and high density homes (18%).

We analysed the most recent population and housing-related data from the 2021 Census and other sources to identify key trends. These trends have informed our draft strategy.

Population changes

Over the next 15 years, our population is projected to increase by around 28,700 residents and 9,400 dwellings, based on the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Census data.

Our draft Housing Strategy is a strategic framework that guides different types of housing to appropriate locations, providing diverse housing choices for current and future residents.

What our community values

As part of the Boroondara Community Plan (2021-31), our community said:

‘We value our local heritage. We value Council’s advocacy to protect the distinct character of our neighbourhood streets and carefully regulate new development. Diversity in housing size and affordability is also important to us.’

We placed value in areas that align to what our community said they value, including protecting the character of our neighbourhoods.

Needs and challenges

Our draft Housing Strategy identifies and addresses the key housing-related needs and challenges in Boroondara, which include:

  • protecting our heritage and character
  • sustainability
  • design excellence
  • housing diversity and choice
  • housing capacity
  • an ageing population
  • housing affordability
  • social and affordable housing
  • homelessness
  • infrastructure capacity.