Build-to-rent incentives and housing affordability take centre stage at Colin Biggers & Paisley's Brisbane Property Think Tank

Over 130 property industry leaders came together recently in Brisbane to delve into the issues of housing supply and affordability, with a focus on build-to-rent (BTR) housing at national law practice Colin Biggers & Paisley's annual Property Think Tank. Facilitating debate and discussion on some of the property industry's hottest topics, the Property Think Tank Series brings together industry leaders, politicians and trusted advisers across the end-to-end property development lifecycle. The forum promotes innovative ideas and opportunities to support the Australian property industry. This year's Think Tank was supported by Urbis, SSKB and Cera-Stribley.

Councillor Adam Allan, Civic Cabinet Chair - City Planning and Suburban Renewal, Brisbane City Council, opened the panel discussion with an overview of the incentives proposed by Brisbane City Council to attract investment and delivery of BTR assets. Councillor Allan was joined by Cameron Stanley, Director at Urbis, Riye Arai-Coupe, Managing Director at Bluebird as well as special counsel in Colin Biggers & Paisley's property and development team, Julia Hewitt for a panel session and Q&A, with partner and national head of the property and development group, Rhett Oliver as MC.

Rhett Oliver commented: 

"There's a lot of enthusiasm for the build-to-rent asset class in south east Queensland at the moment, however, there's a disconnect between the unique nature of the BTR asset class and the mixed use development definition in the planning scheme," 

"To alleviate this disconnect, council and the private sector must work together to create a better definition of BTR as an asset class and look to offer incentives to continue promoting and attracting BTR investment. This could include a more streamlined development assessment process for BTR development applications." 

Building on this theme Cameron Stanley commented:

"We have a real small window of opportunity. We have a looming infrastructure bottleneck and we have an absolute need in terms of a housing crisis. So I think the need for fast change in our planning system is absolutely critical."

Councillor Allan commented:

"There's a growing group of people who want to do more in this space. Now, it's not the answer to all of the housing challenges that we have in the city. However, it is part of the mix. It's going to play an important role going forward and I think that the opportunity is terrific in Brisbane."

Bringing the private developer viewpoint to the discussion, Riye Arai-Coupe commented:

"It's important that public and the private sectors work together, but more importantly, the speed at which local government needs to be in supporting and removing the barriers to enable filtering out to the market."

The evening was a resounding success with the audience being challenged by the lively and thought provoking panel discussion to consider the solution to the housing market issues in Brisbane. 

Sydney and Melbourne will not miss out with Property Think Tank events planned for later this year. The events will lead the conversation on the potential impact and opportunities artificial intelligence presents to the property industry.

If you would like to attend the Sydney or Melbourne Property Think Tank, please contact events@cbp.com.au. 

For more information please contact Linda Branton on 02 8281 4594 or linda.branton@cbp.com.au.