In this special series, The Age focuses on Melbourne’s western suburbs to see how life could improve in Australia’s fastest-growing region. See all 30 stories .

More than 20 sites in the heart of Footscray have planning permits that would deliver more than 4000 apartments, but are sitting idle, in some cases for several years, due to low confidence in the market.

Footscray has a housing shortage, exacerbated by long-term landbanking, as property owners refuse to act on development permits for sites in the centre of the inner-western suburb, Maribyrnong City Council chief executive Celia Haddock says.

Landbanking is the practice of buying land and holding on to it with no specific plans for its use.

Haddock cited one case in which an owner had sought four extensions to a plannin

See Full Page