ACT land release program acceleration touted in response to Mr Fluffy home demolition program
An acceleration of the ACT's land release program is being touted to reduce the predicted demand once the Mr Fluffy asbestos house demolition scheme begins.
The ACT Government plans to buy back and demolish 1,021 houses over five years across the older suburbs of Canberra which were contaminated with Mr Fluffy loose-fill asbestos insulation.
However there are concerns the sudden rise in demand for housing from former Mr Fluffy homeowners will bump up local real estate prices.
It is estimated the number of houses currently on the real estate market is down by 1,000 on previous years.
The ACT's Land Development Agency (LDA) has confirmed it would look closely at increasing next financial year's Indicative Land Release Program.
LDA Deputy Chief Executive Dan Stewart told 666 ABC Canberra the focus would be on new residential blocks at Molonglo and Gungahlin.
"The timing and the types of housing options that affected households might choose is unclear," he said.
"But in anticipation of that, we are looking at bringing forward some additional supply of greenfield land as part of next year's program."
The LDA had previously pared back its land release program expecting a downturn linked to Federal Government budget cuts.
It will now closely examine how much residential land is needed.
"We'll work with industry peak bodies such as the MBA and HIA, and asbestos taskforce to look at the feedback that they are getting from households," Mr Stewart said.
"We'll make some adjustments to the program from next year but we can bring on further product within those estates [at Gungahlin and Molonglo] fairly quickly in response to demand beyond what we might have anticipated."
Medium density housing can be moved on to the market quickly, but Mr Stewart warned detached residential blocks would take longer because of the infrastructure required.
The LDA is also looking at whether a priority system would be offered for former Mr Fluffy homeowners looking at buying new housing sites.
