Welcome to City Chats, City Collective’s new platform for ideas shaping the future of our cities. It’s a space for planners, designers, policymakers, developers, and engaged citizens to share insights and spark dialogue about creating remarkable places.
In our first edition, Addressing the Housing Crisis, we explore what it really takes to deliver more high-quality homes that strengthen communities and drive inclusive growth. Drawing lessons from Australia and the United States, we examine what’s working, what’s not, and how collaboration can unlock scale.
In this edition we speak with Ben Moore of UnitingSA on mission-driven housing and preview the ACH National Conference, where City Collective’s Blake Reeves is a keynote speaker.
Australia and the United States are both facing the same challenge: demand outpacing supply, rents outpacing wages, and systems buckling under pressure. The headlines are loud, the solutions need to be louder.
This edition of City Chats looks beyond the noise to what’s actually working, here and abroad, to build more homes – faster, smarter, and better.
The Picture in Numbers
Australia’s residential market reached A$11.6 trillion in value by June 2025, up from A$11.35 trillion three months earlier. Prices continue to climb and analysts expect another 5–6% rise over two years as RBA cuts take hold.
But growth is uneven: Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth are running at ~10% year-on-year, while Sydney and Melbourne hover in the low single digits, after years of gains.
The National Housing Accord target of 1.2 million homes by mid-2029 is on track for just 938,000, leaving a 262,000-home shortfall. Apartments that are critical to infill and transit-adjacent supply are delivering only 60,000 units a year against a need for 75,000.
Rental vacancy sits near 1.2%, effectively zero in many cities. Two-bed unit rents could climb 24% by 2030, adding A$11,000 per year for the average renter. A single income now needs ~A$130,000 to afford the median unit, well above the median wage of ~A$72,600.
Wages up 4%. Rents up 8%. You know the rest.
Policy is scrambling to respond.
- Victoria is rolling out mid-rise and high-rise rezonings across inner and middle suburbs.
- NSW is backing major greenfield accelerators like Appin’s 9,000-home program.
- Queensland is scaling regional social housing pipelines.
And in South Australia, the Housing Roadmap aims to connect planning ambition to delivery, identifying priority growth areas, simplifying pathways, and aligning infrastructure funding to unlock buildable sites.
What’s Working Now
The Blockers we Must Tackle
- Delivery capacity: Skills, trades, and materials remain chokepoints. Fast-track skilled migration, expand training pathways, and modernise procurement for integrated delivery.
- Holding costs: Long, uncertain approvals inflate finance costs. Shift high-yield infill into code assessment and enforce statutory decision clocks.
- Operating economics: Rent alone can’t sustain affordability. Combine capital grants, concessional finance, and operating subsidies, and let Community Housing Providers do what they do best.
What to Build and Where
- Brownfields and Mall-to-Mixed-Use
Retail footprints are ripe for air-rights housing and carpark conversions. With transit, open space, and services already in place, the design focus should be on street-making and mid-rise continuity, not fortress-style podiums.
- Missing-Middle Corridors
Four to eight storeys along arterials and activity centres strike the sweet spot: cost-efficient, high yield, and contextually gentle. Sydney’s NSW Pattern Book scheme takes a useful step, offering standardised, pre-approved designs for small sites. It streamlines delivery but risks erasing local identity if over-applied. The next challenge is balancing repeatability with place-based character and rewarding family-sized and universally designed housing.
- Institutional Partnerships
Universities and hospitals can unlock key worker and affordable housing on or near campuses in established precincts, offering stable demand, clear financing, and long-term alignment of mission and need.
- Cities that are Growing
Adelaide, Brisbane, and Perth are proving that affordability, infrastructure, and quality of life attract growth. The opportunity now is to turn that demand into delivery through serviced land, modular systems, and streamlined approvals.
What Governments Can Do in the Next 12–24 Months
- Flip the default near transit
Make 6–12 storeys as-of-right within 800m of train stations and high-frequency bus corridors, using pre-set envelopes. - Tie incentives to outcomes
Link density bonuses, fee waivers, and land tax relief to affordability, family-size units, and environmental performance. - Stand up fast-track teams
Cross-agency groups with binding clocks and coordination authority. - Back factory-built housing
Standardise modular typologies, aggregate demand, and recognise factory QA for compliance and certification. - Use public land with urgency
Map, service, and release sites with transparent terms and HAFF-backed finance. - Fund enabling works
Focus infrastructure funding where it unblocks real projects, connecting grants to milestones that move developments from plan to delivery.
What Industry Can Do Starting Monday
How We’re Applying This
At City Collective, these ideas are already live:
- In Australia, we’re helping HAFF-aligned projects reach feasibility by optimising envelopes, standardising typologies, and sequencing approvals to reduce holding costs.
- In the US, we’re working with Housing Developers and Housing Authorities on mixed-income development plans combining public-private delivery with thoughtful, creative urban design
What’s Next?
- The rise of the mid-rise: Medium-scale, walkable density along transit corridors will drive the next housing wave.
- Public-private land plays: Governments will act as land partners, not just regulators.
- Factory logic: Modular and panelised systems will shift from pilot to mainstream, driven by speed, quality, and carbon reduction.
Bottom line
We don’t lack ideas; we lack predictability. When the rules are clear, timelines are fixed, and incentives align, homes get built. Demand is not easing, and sustainability can’t be treated as optional. The path forward is practical and measurable, master plan it, zone it, fund it, approve it, and build it, again and again, with responsibility and scale. This moment isn’t about headlines or political wins; it’s about outcomes that matter – turning plans into places and getting keys into doors.
Authors: David Cooke, Justin Kearnan
For media inquiries, email hello@city-collective.com
At a time when South Australia is facing unprecedented housing pressures, UnitingSA is responding with purpose and partnership. Founded in 1919, the not-for-profit organisation supports more than 12,000 people each year across aged care, community services, and housing. Guided by its core values of respect, compassion, and equality, its motto – “Together we can” – has become more than a statement of intent; it’s a rallying call for collective action and impact.
For UnitingSA, housing isn’t just about shelter; it’s about creating foundations for stronger, more connected communities. Through affordable rental homes and supportive tenancy management, the organisation helps South Australians on low to moderate incomes find stability, safety, and belonging.
To better understand how the organisation is tackling South Australia’s housing crisis, we spoke with Ben Moore, UnitingSA’s Chief Development, Property and Housing Officer, about their approach, the power of partnership, and what lies ahead for the future of housing.
A Response to the Housing Crisis
Across South Australia, the need for secure, affordable housing has never been greater. In just the past two months alone, UnitingSA has supported more than 800 people at risk of homelessness, a stark reminder of the scale of the challenge.
“We’re working alongside government and partners to provide both immediate support and enduring housing solutions that make a real difference,” Moore says. “It’s about thinking beyond crisis response to create pathways to long-term stability and wellbeing.”
This forward-looking mindset underpins every UnitingSA project, including the Uniting on Second development, one of the organisation’s largest developments to date.
Uniting on Second: Partnership in Action
Located in Bowden and delivered in partnership with City Collective, Renewal SA and Kennett, Uniting on Second is a tangible expression of UnitingSA’s housing vision. Set to deliver 70 new homes by early next year, the project demonstrates how collaboration and design excellence can deliver impact at scale.
“Bowden is a chance to show how our broader strategy translates into high-quality, well-designed homes in key growth areas,” Moore explains.
It’s about creating places where people feel safe, settled, and connected. The collaboration behind the project reflects a shared commitment to people-centred design, where every decision, from layout to landscape, is guided by liveability, dignity, and a sense of community.
Designing for Belonging
At the heart of UnitingSA’s housing approach is a simple belief: homes should build communities, not just house individuals. Each project is designed with shared spaces that encourage connection and wellbeing, from communal gardens to gathering areas that bring residents together.
“Shared spaces help build a sense of belonging,” says Moore. “They turn housing developments into communities.”
This people-first design philosophy is where UnitingSA and City Collective align most strongly, translating shared values into design-led, socially conscious outcomes that have earned sector-wide recognition.
Looking Ahead
Over the next five years, UnitingSA aims to continue growing its housing portfolio, exploring diverse housing models and expanding into new locations, all while remaining focused on the human impact at the heart of its mission.
“Our goal is simple, to create more homes, support more people, and strengthen communities,” Moore says. “Because real impact comes from creating places where people are proud to live.”
Author: Josephine Cooke
For media inquiries, email hello@city-collective.com
In our Industry Spotlight section, we are thrilled to share that our very own, Blake Reeves, will be a keynote speaker at the upcoming Australian Community Housing (ACH) Conference 2025, held in Canberra from 24–26 November.
This year’s theme, “Creating a Home for All”, couldn’t resonate more with our mission. Over three days, the program will explore strategies for scaling housing supply, embedding design excellence, and building sector leadership to meet the growing need for quality and affordable homes.
A Spotlight on Blake Reeves
Blake has spent his career challenging conventional approaches to city-making. He leads urban design and master planning projects that bridge visionary thinking with realistic delivery. Blake’s strong urban design and stakeholder focus, combined with deep understanding of how communities grow, sees many of his projects include impactful housing outcomes.
His featured session at ACH 2025 will delve into creative frameworks for housing-led placemaking: how bold, integrated master planning can deliver not just more homes, but better communities. He’ll unpack lessons from recent work across Australia and the United States, offering a fresh perspective on how design can catalyse housing solutions at scale.
“Design has the power to do more than shape spaces, it can shape futures. By rethinking how we plan, we can unlock housing solutions that are ambitious, inclusive, and enduring. This is about creating places where communities don’t just live, they thrive.”
Blake in Action
Recently, Blake has been leading two major projects, the Prospect Yards Master Plan and the Selma Downtown Action Plan. In Wilson, North Carolina, Prospect Yards presents a transformative vision for an urban infill site, reimagining a former light-industrial precinct as a mixed-use neighbourhood that blends affordable and market-rate housing. Blake spearheaded the strategy to position the Wilson Mudcats baseball stadium as a community catalyst, activating the surrounding area with new housing, community facilities, and employment spaces to create a cohesive, future-ready precinct.
In Alabama, the historic City of Selma is charting a bold course for its future, one that honours its past while embracing growth. Long recognised as a landmark of the civil rights movement, Selma is developing a roadmap for revitalisation that connects its cultural legacy with a shared vision for progress. The plan focuses on reviving the downtown core through people-centred strategies that prioritise liveability, walkability, and affordable housing. Working alongside the community, Blake and the City Collective team have shaped a framework that is both ambitious and grounded, celebrating Selma’s identity while laying the foundation for sustainable, inclusive growth.
Together, these initiatives are shaping a roadmap for the next generation of city planning – one grounded in inclusivity, local identity, and long-term resilience. Both projects exemplify the kind of integrated, design-led approach that ACH 2025 will highlight, showing how housing can serve as both a catalyst for regeneration and a connector for thriving, cohesive communities.
Join the Conversation
The ACH 2025 Conference will be held in Canberra, 24–26 November. Registrations are open now, with a full program and ticketing details available at: www.australiancommunityhousingconference.org.au
Author: Silvio Francisco
For media inquiries, email hello@city-collective.com
