After six years leading the Property Council in Tasmania, Brian Wightman is stepping down. We checked in to find out how the local property industry has changed during his time steering the ship.
A former school principal, Wightman was a minister in the Tasmanian Labor government for four years, serving in justice, environment, heritage and education portfolios before stepping into the role of executive director at the Property Council in September 2014. Next week Wightman takes on the top job at the Australian Education Union in Tasmania.
“After six years in property, which I’ve loved, I feel like it’s time to go back to my roots,” Wightman says.
Wightman has witnessed a lot of changes in the local industry since 2014, and chief among them has been what he calls the “shifting culture of housing needs”.
“When I first started with the Property Council, Tasmania’s focus was on new housing sub-divisions and land release, particularly across Hobart. While there remains a thirst for that type of development, we are seeing a lot of diversification into townhouses and inner-city apartments.
“It’s good to see the market cater to people who don’t want to be tied to a lawnmower on the weekend.”
In 2017, Hobart overtook Sydney as Australia’s least affordable city for renters. Rents raced so far ahead of incomes that average-income households now spend 30 per cent of their pay packets on housing. Wightman places part of the responsibility on the shoulders of a poor planning system that has failed to keep up.
“Tasmanian once prided itself on being able to house its people – and this has been threatened during the latest boom. Prices have risen and people at the bottom end of the market have been exposed. For the first time we’ve needed for low-cost housing.”
Wightman has championed policies that boost housing supply over the last six years. “Government has realised that there are impediments to housing supply in Tasmania. Processes are slow, antiquated and can’t respond to the market’s needs.”
Recovery from the pandemic presents the perfect opportunity to invest in social and emergency housing as “a great economic stimulus measure that also ensures people have a roof over their heads”.
Other sectors of the local market have also evolved rapidly in the last six years, and Wightman points to the hotel sector as an obvious example. “I don’t think many people would have thought we’d have six to eight hotel developments on the go in Hobart, but few people could foresee Tasmania’s booming tourism industry.”
The rise of the international student market, while tempered during COVID-19, remains a strong long-term proposition he says. “Tasmania is a safe and relatively cheap place to learn – and that has made education a major export for us.”
As he reflects on his six years with the Property Council, Wightman says “partnerships” have been the Tasmanian division’s greatest asset.
“We’ve strengthened our relationships with government and stakeholders and have found a way to work with people, even when we disagree. I think we’ve reset perceptions in Tasmania, and people see the property industry as collaborative and community-minded.
“Tasmania is now seen as a wonderful destination and terrific place to live. But we need to plan more astutely to make the most of our opportunities. The Property Council is in the best possible place to articulate the needs of members and to raise our collective voice to make the industry – and importantly Tasmania – better.”