Opportunity for comment  iii

Terms of reference  iv

Overview  1

Australia needs more homes in the right places  3

Reforming regulation to build more homes, faster  5

Information requests  16

1. Best practice for housing regulatory systems  21

1.1 Government regulation affects housing supply  22

1.2 Principles of a best practice regulatory system for housing  23

1.3 What the principles mean in practice  27

1.4 Using best practice principles to assess reform directions  34

2. Unlocking more homes through better land-use regulation  37

2.1 How do land-use controls operate in Australia?  38

2.2 Land-use controls limit housing supply  39

2.3 Land release only matters if land is ready for development  49

2.4 Reform directions for land-use controls  51

2.5 Inquiry next steps on land-use regulation  58

3. Reducing the burden of approvals  61

3.1 The process for approval can be challenging and costly for developers  62

3.2 Regulatory burden tends to be highest for planning approvals to release land or develop housing  67

3.3 Rigid processes may discourage innovation  70

3.4 Recent reforms offer examples of best practice  73

3.5 Governments should make approvals simple, fast and predictable  77

3.6 Inquiry next steps on housing approvals regulation  83

4. Delivering housing-enabling infrastructure  85

4.1 Housing-enabling infrastructure is essential to support housing supply  85

4.2 Improving infrastructure planning and coordination  89

4.3 Who pays for housing-enabling infrastructure?  95

4.4 Supporting housing supply through developer contributions  99

4.5 Inquiry next steps on housing-enabling infrastructure  107

5. Toward more homes, faster  109

5.1 Reform priorities to increase housing supply  109

5.2 Inquiry next steps  115

A. Public consultation  117

Abbreviations  122

References  123