Hopes AI can help provide lifeline for housing crisis
Researchers hope talking to maps may help them find the answers needed to solve Australia's housing crisis.
In an effort to tackle a multi-front crisis, a cutting-edge government-backed housing analytics lab will open in Sydney on Monday.
Studying housing data, the interactive lab aims to find solutions to housing affordability, by looking at areas to build social homes and boost the waning development pipeline.
Researchers will use Map AI, an interactive tool that shows housing data, to find which areas are best to be developed, and how to feasibly redevelop already high-density areas.
"Map AI allows you to talk to your map and ask questions like 'show me property here', so it makes it a lot easier for those who are not data scientists to interrogate the data," lead of the lab and UNSW professor Chris Pettit told AAP.
"Traditionally planners try to rezone high-density areas around train stations.
"We will use AI to see what value are those properties are and what is permissible to zone, to break down some of those barriers."
The lab will bring together more than a dozen partners in government and the housing sector, with a focus on NSW, though solutions found can be used across the nation.
State governments in 2023 agreed to begin building a combined 1.2 million homes from mid-2024, with the hope of finishing them over five years.
Less than a year later, the number of approved dwellings is dropping, not rising, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Social housing is also unable to meet demand, a national State of the Housing System report found, and according to new research, one in three homes are priced at more than a million dollars.
NSW is on track to fall short of building its share of 377,000 homes by 2029, with only five of the state's 43 local government areas on track to meet their housing targets, according to Property Council NSW figures.
The state also continues to grapple with a rental crisis as vacancy rates slumped to 1.6 per cent in April, ABS data shows.
"Finding a home to rent in New South Wales is harder today than it has ever been before," NSW Real Estate Institute chief executive Tim McKibbin said.
"As a community, we owe it to everyone in this boat to strive for a better outcome."
The state government has pitched in $1 million towards the new lab, with NSW Premier Chris Minns saying it brings together experts and data for key insights.
"We need universities that can translate research into real-world solutions - exactly what UNSW is doing here."
On Monday, NSW will follow in the footsteps of Victoria, ACT, Queensland and South Australia in banning no-grounds evictions for renters.
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