MIDLAND and Woodbridge are two suburbs to be supported by new apartment development funding in a state government push to boost housing supply.

The state government has invested $17 million to help develop under-used land into almost 1,700 new apartments.

A Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage (DPLH) spokesperson said the Woodbridge development will deliver 20 new apartments within 500m of Midland Station and 1km of the Midland Strategic Activity Centre.

“The latest announcement of successful applicants also includes four apartment projects in Midland to support the delivery of 44 apartments,” they said.

“The targeted apartment rebate of up to $10,000 per apartment is assisting industry to address essential water, wastewater and electricity infrastructure costs in delivering apartment developments close to train stations and retail and commercial centres.

“Two previously announced successful Midland projects will deliver an additional 67 new apartments supported by the targeted apartment rebate.”

The spokesperson said the funding comes as relief for the development industry as its ability to deliver higher-density housing projects remains impacted by the pandemic.

“(This includes) supply chain challenges, skilled labour and cost escalations and these challenges are widely recognised and acknowledged by industry,” they said.

“This has affected the number of density apartments being delivered in the private market, which are an important to overall housing supply.”

DPLH is welcoming expressions of interest for developers to identify and potentially purchase state government-owned land to deliver more housing and land supply sooner.

This applies to any land not reserved for future hospitals, schools, roads, utilities or other essential civic infrastructure, with developers required to achieve specified delivery milestones to complete the project.