381Author:Article Title Planning for Affordable Housing in Coastal Sea Change Communities

Over the past few decades, increasing numbers of Australians have migrated to high amenity non-metropolitan coastal destinations. This movement, widely referred to as the ‘sea change ’ phenomenon, is often motivated by factors relating to housing affordability with lower income groups leaving the city in search of cheaper housing, while more affluent sea changers realise high capital gains from their city properties and ‘down size’ in lifestyle destinations (see, Gurran, et. al., 2005). However, there is evidence that coastal areas are becoming less affordable. Land values in many coastal areas have risen dramatically in recent years and levels of housing stress in some coastal areas now exceed that experienced in some of the major capitals. This is occurring in a context of high levels of socio-economic disadvantage with many non-metropolitan coastal communities characterised by high proportions of low-income households and unemployment. Gentrification of existing housing stock, limited supply due to high levels of holiday home ownership and environmental constraints are some of the factors underlying affordability issues in coastal sea change communities. The issue of housing affordability in non-metropolitan Australia has received limited research and policy attention to date (Wulff, et. al., 2005). This paper first discusses housing affordability issues in non-metropolitan coastal Australia. The effectiveness with which existing local planning frameworks have addressed the issue is then examined and opportunities to strengthen planning for affordable housing in non-metropolitan coastal regions are proposed in conclusion. 1