WA Off-The-Plan Boost as Affordable Homes Approved

The Western Australian Government has turned its eye on affordability for new homes, launching a loan for prospective off-the-plan buyers as the latest affordable project in Perth is approved.

Deposits of up to 10 per cent for off-the-plan apartments could often be a major barrier to entry for prospective buyers, the government said. 

Now, the state government’s transitional home loan provider, Keystart, has introduced a new loan to provide buyers with a deposit to acquire an off-the-plan home. 

Keystart’s Urban Connect Plus loan is an extension of the pilot Urban Connect Home Loan initially launched in 2022 and extended in 2023 to support more affordable apartment developments. 

Eligible are buyers with a single income of under $180,000 and a property purchase limit of $560,000 or a combined income of $200,000 for couples and families with a property purchase limit of up to $650,000. 

The WA Government said the scheme would help make “medium and high-density living more accessible and supports the Western Australian Government’s infill priority”.

Building approval data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics released this week has shown that WA was second only to Queensland in the number of homes approved, up 7.9 per cent on the previous month.

▲ Not-for-profit Housing Choices WA managed about 22 per cent of the social and affordable homes in WA, the development application said.

In keeping with the affordability theme, an $11-million affordable build-to-rent project for operator Housing Choices WA has been approved by the Mandurah Metro Outer Joint Development Assessment Panel (JDAP). 

The project by developers Rowe Group will deliver 35 homes of community housing in a build-to-rent model on a 4839sq m site at 41 Montsalvat Drive, Greenfields, a suburb of Mandurah.

Of those, 28 will be one to three-bedroom apartments, with 7 three-bedroom town houses. 

The approved development is supported by a SHERP New Builds Grant awarded by the WA Department of Communities in 2022. 

According to Housing Choices, it fulfils the requirements of a tripart consortium deed between the City of Mandurah Council, Spinaway Parade Pty Ltd and Walworth Pty Ltd. 

The development was designed by architects at Perth’s Cast Studio for Rowe Group, which also launched plans for a village-style precinct in Perth’s Pickle District last year.