Almost 29,000 new homes could be unlocked in the Lower Hunter if the NSW government invested $420 million on the essential building blocks new developments needed, such as roads, water and sewerage.
The report by the Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA) found every local government area in the Lower Hunter had a deficit of enabling infrastructure funding, which was strangling the delivery of new houses.
UDIA NSW chief executive Stuart Ayres said the $420 million investment, spread over five years, worked out to be $14,000 per new dwelling.
"This investment will pay for itself," Mr Ayres said.
The state government has set a five-year target of 30,400 new houses for the Lower Hunter. UDIA predicts 28,915 houses - or 95 per cent of the target - could be achieved with the $420 million investment.
The upfront cost would be recouped through future developer contributions, Mr Ayres said, along with revenue from stamp duty, land tax and payroll taxes, which only accrued when new homes were built.
"We need to rethink our infrastructure funding model and have the government make an upfront investment in the infrastructure needed to unlock housing with the contribution coming after the housing is delivered," Mr Ayres said.
"The alternative is the government's business-as-usual approach of waiting years for developer contributions to accumulate before there is enough available to start funding a handful of these housing enabling projects.
"That approach is clearly not delivering homes at the speed that communities need them."
UDIA identifies the specific infrastructure required and its cost for all major greenfield housing and employment land sites in the Cessnock, Lake Macquarie, Maitland, Newcastle and Port Stephens local government areas.
Almost half of the five-year funding needed for housing would go to improving the state road network. The rest was split between local road upgrades, and water, sewerage and power infrastructure.
The report also showed that another $83 million was needed over the next five years to support 626 hectares of employment land that could deliver 30,000 new jobs for the Lower Hunter.
In total, the UDIA Building Blocks report details $1.2 billion over 20 years for enabling infrastructure to support 54,000 new homes and 648 hectares of new employment land.
"The Hunter is a great place to live and work, but the ability to build a home or new business will only get harder without further investment in enabling infrastructure," Mr Ayres.
The UDIA recently estimated a $28.5 million spend on enabling infrastructure on the Central Coast could deliver about 2000 new homes.
