03 Nov 2021 Environmental Cost of Old Housing Stock Mounts
With our borders opening up, there are calls for Australia to lift immigration levels to kick-start the economy. But at the same time urban planners are telling us that we already have issues with a lack of services, public transport and infrastructure in our rapidly growing outer suburbs. So how does Melbourne balance population growth with the growth of our suburbs. This article from The Urban Developer provides an alternative to urban sprawl; urban regeneration.
Almost 8 million homes are well past their use by date and could be torn down to build multiple energy efficient dwellings and address the housing crisis.
One old standard house on an 800 to 1000sq m block could make way for up to three new homes, according to the Affordable Housing Environmental Scan 2022 by Powerhousing and Corelogic.
The report found these homes, most of which have existed for 30 years or more, contribute up to 18 per cent to the country’s emissions.
They were also a big hurdle for meeting net-zero emissions by 2050, a target reaffirmed by the Australian government during the the 26th Conference of the Parties, in Glasgow.
In 2003, a four star Nathers energy rating became mandatory for all new homes—before this it was a “lottery” as to what level the star rating was, and most came in at one to two stars.
The report found the vast majority of Australia’s housing stock was built before this time, and most of these buildings would not be retrofitted to meet standards in the National Construction Code by 2050.
Meanwhile the nation’s affordability was being stretched to its limits with dwelling prices outpacing wages 12 to one and rents hit all-time highs.
Read the full story at The Urban Developer >>>
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