Background

The Federal Government commissioned a report into housing supply regulation from the Productivity Commission (PC) this year. 

The PC had already found that red tape is responsible for undermining productivity in the housing industry. It adds significant cost to the average new house or unit. 

Scope of the inquiry

The Commission will conduct an inquiry to assess how regulatory systems affect housing supply across jurisdictions, identify best practice and recommend reforms to get more homes built quickly across the following matters:

Approval processes (e.g., development, building, and post-approvals, including any barriers to the uptake of more productive methods of construction)

Availability and use of land for housing (e.g., land release, land use controls)

Processes and frameworks to deliver new and utilise existing housing infrastructure (e.g., growth infrastructure planning, developer contributions model)

The inquiry should identify examples of the existing housing regulatory system across jurisdictions that have the greatest impact on housing supply, housing affordability and construction productivity. However, this should also consider the benefits of the regulations and their objectives. 

The inquiry should also evaluate regulatory systems across jurisdictions against established best practice, with reference to existing reform efforts underway. The Commission’s advice should clearly identify reform opportunities, including, where possible, quantitative analysis of the economic benefits of the recommended reforms.

What to expect from the interim report 

The interim report should identify regulations that most affect housing and include a prioritised list of reforms to support faster and simpler approvals and make more land available and ready to build more homes.