A major overhaul aimed at rapidly boosting construction approvals is key to meeting Australia’s ambitious housing target, business warns.
The Business Council of Australia says a series of changes to state and local government processes is needed if the country hopes to build 1.2 million homes over five years.
This would include universal “report cards” in every state and territory to monitor local government approvals.
The BCA also suggests a carrot and stick approach allowing state governments to intervene in processes traditionally conducted by local authorities.
This would allow a state or territory to remove the planning powers of councils that continually underperform in assessing new homes, while giving funding to high performers.
BCA chief executive Bran Black says the tough measures are needed to address Australia’s housing supply crisis.
“We need to turbo-charge the assessment and approval process so we get more homes built faster,” he said.
“We want to work with local and state governments to speed up their housing decisions, so builders can get on with the job of delivering places for people to live.”
According to Australian Bureau of Statistics data released on October 1, dwelling approvals dropped 6.1 per cent in August.
The monthly decline reversed a bullish 11 per cent increase in July, although approvals were up 3.6 per cent when compared to August 2023.
Approvals for detached houses rose by a slim 0.5 per cent nationally but other dwellings – including apartments – pulled down the overall tally with a 16.5 per cent fall.
In September, Master Builders Australia forecast just 1.03 million of the target homes would be built, finding every state was behind in its individual targets.
The peak building and construction body said if the pace experienced over the past year continued, Australia would fall 365,000 homes short.
To boost housing supply, BCA also suggested four other calls-to-action:
* The redirection of decisions on housing projects of “significance” to state government for approval, including supporting infrastructure;
* A state concierge service which monitors and co-ordinates approval and concurrence processes across all government departments and agencies;
* A mechanism for housing builders to force councils or state governments to make a decision if the statutory time frame is passed;
* Improved approaches to community consultation answering “legitimate concerns” while balancing local responses with housing needs.
