Project background

Between 10 August to 6 September 2026, Council ran the ‘Our Housing Future’ community engagement campaign to:

• understand community sentiment, priorities and concerns about housing
• test the ongoing relevance of the directions in the Housing Strategy
• build community awareness ahead of Council consideration of the Housing Roadmap in October

What did we ask?

This phase of engagement focused on:

• Community priorities for housing in Port Phillip.
• Whether the existing housing objectives remain relevant.
• The types of homes people may need in the future.
• How housing growth should be planned and supported.

What did we hear?

Across all engagement activities, participants highlighted the following priorities:

Housing Priorities

• Participants ranked the six Housing Strategy objectives: Supply, Location, Character, Diversity, Design, and Affordability.

• Character received the most first-place votes but was also the most polarising objective, with 43 out of 128 people ranking it first and 42 ranking it last.

• Supply and affordability were prominent priorities, ranked in the top two by 51% and 48% of respondents respectively.

• Design attracted the broadest consensus, with 75% ranking it in their top three, indicating widespread support for well-designed, climate-resilient housing.

Housing Needs

• More family-sized housing, particularly larger apartments and townhouses with additional bedrooms, outdoor space and storage.

• Housing choice within established communities, allowing people to remain close to family, schools, services and social networks as their needs change.

• Accessible and adaptable housing that supports ageing in place and independent living.

• Affordable and secure housing across different tenures and income levels supporting people to enter the housing market, remain in their existing home or community, move to a more suitable housing.

• Creating better-quality housing with good design and construction quality.

What happens next?

Council is preparing a Housing Roadmap for submission to the Minister for Planning. The Roadmap is intended to outline the strategic work Council may undertake over the coming years to identify opportunities for additional housing and respond to State housing targets.

Subject to Council consideration, future implementation of the Roadmap would occur in stages, with separate community engagement undertaken for individual projects as they progress.