“Much of the building activity for detached homes is also being delivered over the border and this is locking more and more Territorians out of the market and driving up house and rental prices.

“HIA strongly believes that with a few simple planning changes and improved accountability for land supply, the ACT can significantly increase the number of dwellings built in the capital each year.

“The industry welcomes the new Territory Plan and the approach of creating an ‘outcomes-based’ planning system to improve the built form in the Territory, however, we can’t see it inherently increasing the supply of dwellings,” said Mr Weller.

To increase density The ACT must:  

• Remove the 120 sqm building limit for dual occupancy in RZ1 and let existing planning controls dictate the scale of homes.
• Let the Territory Plan govern the maximum number of dwellings permitted in RZ2, rather than put arbitrary controls in place.
• Increase building height in RZ2 to 3 stories for multi-unit dwellings where appropriate.

“The lack of affordable land in the ACT continues to constrain the delivery of housing at an affordable price. While the Indicative Land Release Program (ILRP) is projecting blocks for around 21,000 dwellings will be released over the next 5 years, there is very limited detail as to the type of dwelling.

“There is also no accountability to the public and industry as to whether this is achieved.

“The ILRP must improve the capacity of the ACT to forecast new development by increasing its horizon to 15 years and report against performance annually,” concluded Mr Weller.

For more information please contact: