Smart zoning will also open up suburbs for missing middle housing, says the Property Council. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
The ACT should establish a NSW-style Housing Taskforce to fast-track approved housing and unblock logjams preventing new homes from being built, according to the Property Council.
In its 2025 Budget Submission, the Property Council says a cross-agency taskforce would bring together staff from key agencies, including utilities, to resolve delays in development applications that require multi-agency input.
It says the NSW Taskforce works directly with councils and proponents to resolve delays after development approvals, including infrastructure coordination and compliance matters.
The council envisages a dedicated unit within the new EPSDD/TCCS/Access Canberra directorate empowered to troubleshoot bottlenecks and drive coordinated responses both pre- and post-approval.
This would go beyond the role of the Development Solutions unit proposed as part of the public service restructure from 1 July.
Executive director Ashlee Berry said Development Solutions was a significant and positive step in the right direction, but broader cultural and systemic change was needed to coordinate delivery across agencies and unblock infrastructure, utility and compliance delays.
She said Development Solutions could be a strong and effective part of the answer, but there needed to be a new front door into government.
“We need a delivery-focused team inside government that can actively walk projects through the maze and resolve the real delivery issues,” she said.
Ms Berry said that while building approvals rose in March, too many projects would continue to stall before completion without a dedicated unit inside government to tackle persistent delays.
“In its first six months, the NSW Housing Taskforce was able to drive progress for applications for over 30,000 new homes. The ACT must follow the lead of NSW and create its own Housing Taskforce to get more homes moving faster,” Ms Berry said.
She said it was encouraging to see building approvals lift in March, but approvals alone won’t house a growing population.
“Over the past decade, nearly 5000 homes that were either approved or started still haven’t been completed. That’s the gap we need to close,” she said.
In the decade since 2015, Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data showed 49,661 dwellings had been approved in the ACT, with 48,482 started, but only 44,824 had been completed.
“That means more than 1100 approved homes never made it to site, and another 3600 started but haven’t yet finished,” Ms Berry said.
“We need to fix the system that’s stalling delivery,” Ms Berry said.
“The NSW Housing Taskforce model brings together government agencies to clear post-approval delays – the sorts of infrastructure and compliance hold-ups that quietly kill housing projects. We need the same kind of proactive problem-solving approach here in the ACT.”
The council’s submission also calls for measures to broaden the tax base and not rely so heavily on the property sector, smarter zoning to unlock 60,000 new homes and boost missing middle housing, more incentives for build-to rent projects and greater investment in Civic to reverse the decline of the CBD, including supporting businesses to survive the light rail build.
The council also called for a 20-year plan for Canberra that includes a vision for high-speed rail.
“The ACT is growing, and we need to grow with it,” Ms Berry said. “That means making the system work for people and investors, not holding up good projects with red tape.
“Property is the engine of the ACT economy. One in seven jobs depends on it. The best thing the government can do in this Budget is to partner with industry to fix the system, unlock supply and invest in our city’s future.”
