Overview

The City of Maribyrnong is growing, and by 2051 we expect to accommodate an additional 61,000 residents, taking our population to a total of 155,000 people.

To accommodate this growth, the State Government has set an ambitious target for us to support the construction of 48,000 new dwellings, more than doubling the current number of dwellings by 2051, taking us to a total of 88,000 dwellings.

It is important we have enough housing in the right locations to create neighbourhoods that are liveable and sustainable.

We need a new Housing Strategy to set the long-term direction for how we accommodate this growth. The Strategy will consider key factors like:

• The types of housing we need to accommodate our diverse and growing population.
• The preferred design and character of our neighbourhoods and suburbs.
• Managing housing-related climate challenges and risks.
• The most suitable locations for housing growth and change.

Council’s current Housing Strategy was finalised in 2011. Since then a lot has changed in our City – including who lives here, how people live, and what kind of homes are being built. We’ve seen impacts from rising living costs, and more pressure on housing affordability. There are also bigger challenges, like the climate emergency.

Council began a conversation with our community last year to understand ideas and priorities on how we can accommodate everyone’s housing needs, and what residents love about where they live.

Community feedback indicated that Council should prioritise green and open space along with proximity to public transport when considering new development. Trees and landscaping, a high level of design and quality of buildings were also identified as key priorities.

To support the preparation of the new Housing Strategy, we have prepared a Discussion Paper to continue the conversation with the community about how we plan for housing over the next 25 years (to 2051).

You can view a copy of the Discussion Paper or a summary of the Discussion Paper, in the Document Library.

How to participate

Housing affects us all – whether you rent, own, live with family, or are looking for a secure place to call home.

We are keen to understand if the Discussion Paper and its four key themes have correctly understood community priorities and preferences for future housing in our City. Your feedback will help shape the draft Housing Strategy and future planning decisions across our City.

Details on how to participate, including a link to the online survey, are available in the 'Share your feedback' section of this page.

Feedback closes midnight Sunday 20 July 2025.

The Discussion Paper identifies our key housing challenges and opportunities, with four key themes to help guide a future Housing Strategy. You can download a copy of the Discussion Paper or the Summary Document in the Document Library.

The four key themes in the Discussion Paper are outlined below:

The Housing Strategy will help plan Maribyrnong’s housing to best meet the needs of our diverse community over the next 25 years. The Housing Strategy will:

• align with State Planning Policy to guide housing growth in Maribyrnong
• be informed by evidence and community engagement
• identify locations that are best suited for increased housing delivery
• include design guidelines to reflect future preferred neighbourhood character values in new development
• identify actions to enhance housing affordability, design, diversity and sustainability
• seek an understanding of the growing and changing needs of our community.

The Housing Strategy won't:

• conflict with State Government policy
• decide who can and cannot design and develop housing
• stop or restrict population growth
• directly mandate certain buildings to be constructed and the number of bedrooms in a development
• directly control housing prices or rents
• set future migration or population policy.

Along with your feedback, we will consider State Government policy directions and housing targets, population and demographic information, land and development data, environmental sustainability and resilience, and affordability.

The City of Maribyrnong is currently home to 94,000 people across about 40,000 homes. By 2051, we will be home to 155,000 people and will need at least 71,000 homes.

This is twice as many homes as we have now to house a rapidly growing and changing community. As such, a diversity of housing types will be needed to meet different needs.

We also need to make sure new housing is appropriately located with access to shops, transport, and services and not in areas where there are environmental or health and safety concerns – for example, close to heavy industry.

The Housing Strategy will help us respond to this challenge, informing future delivery to best meet the needs of our diverse community over the next 30 years.

Along with your feedback, we need to undertake research to further understand Maribyrnong’s changing demographics and housing needs.

You can learn more about our population forecasts by visiting Maribyrnong's Population Forecast page.

Neighbourhood character is shaped by the combination of the public and private areas within a neighbourhood including all buildings, gardens, street trees and public infrastructure. It is about what makes one area distinctive from another.

We are developing preferred neighbourhood character statements to ensure we have clear guidelines on building, landscaping and design for new housing development.

download the State Government's 'Understanding Neighbourhood Character' planning note from the Document Library.

There are a range of housing models – some already in use and others emerging – that can help improve both affordable housing (housing specifically designed for very low, low and moderate income households) and broader housing affordability across our community. Further information is available on page 28 of the Discussion Paper.

Build-to-Rent: where whole buildings (generally apartments) are designed and built to be rented out, not sold. One organisation – such as a private developer, investment company or community housing provider –owns and manages the entire building and sets the rent.

Build-to-Rent-to-Own: a variation of the Build-to-Rent model where residents rent a property with the option to purchase it at a later date. The arrangement typically allows residents to lock in both the rent and purchase price for up to five years, with the flexibility to buy the home at any time during that period at an agreed value.

Build-to-Sell: traditional build-to-sell projects form the largest housing development model in Australia, where the developer builds and then sells units/houses upon or shortly after completion.

Communal design: where a development is designed with smaller private spaces and larger communal areas – such as shared kitchens, laundry and gardens. These models can lower construction costs and reduce ongoing expenses for residents, while also promoting a sense of community. An example is Stephen Street, Yarraville which has a shared garden.

Cohousing: a type of intentional community development where people live in private homes but share common spaces like gardens, kitchens, or meeting rooms. Residents co-govern the community and collectively manage shared land, buildings, and facilities. Cohousing developments are purpose-built and can include a mix of home ownership, private rental, and social housing.

Community land trusts: a model where the land is owned by a not-for-profit community organisation to ensure it remains affordable over the long term. Homes can be bought or rented on the land, but the land itself stays in community ownership. This model is common overseas but does not have broad take up locally.

Ground lease model: public land is leased to a consortium to build, operate and maintain affordable housing on the site for a set number of years. At the end of the lease, the land and buildings are returned to public ownership.

Housing Cooperatives: where a community of people voluntarily work together to meet their common need for affordable housing. Housing cooperatives are typically owned by shareholders or not for profit organisations. Members live in separate dwellings but actively participate in the management and running of the housing cooperative as a whole. A subset of this model could include ecovillages, where the cooperative has a focus on sustainability, permaculture, renewable energy, and shared resources. An example is United Housing Co-operative.

Inclusionary zoning: a planning tool that mandates new residential developments include a percentage of affordable housing. While Victorian councils cannot currently mandate inclusionary zoning, they can advocate to the State Government for change.

Intergenerational living: housing designed to support people of different ages living together – such as older adults, families, and younger people – either in the same home or in separate dwellings on a shared site. These developments often include shared spaces that encourage interaction and mutual support across generations. Intergenerational living can reduce housing costs, combat social isolation, and support informal care arrangements.

Modular and prefabricated housing: homes built off-site in sections and assembled on-site. This development model can lower construction time and costs and support faster delivery of affordable housing.

Small footprint living: compact, simpler homes that are cheaper to build and maintain. They often have fewer features – like reduced car parking – and include tiny homes or micro-apartments. An example of this are the Tiny Homes.

Voluntary Affordable Housing agreements: where local governments negotiate with developers to include affordable housing in their projects, typically as part of a proposal to rezone land or during the planning approval process. In return, developers may be offered incentives such as increased building height or reduced car parking requirements. Community Housing providers usually play a key role by managing the affordable housing delivered through these voluntary agreements. An example of this is the Ryco Precinct, Footscray.

Council began a conversation with our community in mid-2024 to understand ideas and priorities on how we can accommodate everyone's housing needs, and what residents love about where they live.

There was a total of 604 contributions:

• 387 completed postcards
• 147 contributions to the online questionnaire
  
• 66 contributions via an online social map
  
• four emails directly to the Housing Strategy inbox.
  

In addition, approximately 110 people attended six in-person events across the City.

A snapshot of key findings is below, with further information available in the Engagement Summary Report in the Document Library.