Overview
- Grattan recommends allowing three-storey townhouses and apartments on all residential land, with at least six storeys near major transit, using by‑right or deemed‑to‑comply approvals for projects that meet standards.
- Its modelling projects about 67,000 additional homes a year, rents roughly 12% lower over a decade, and a $100,000 reduction in the median home price.
- The report estimates capacity for up to one million extra homes across Sydney and about 431,000 within 15km of Melbourne’s CBD if planning rules are overhauled.
- Grattan says recent NSW and Victorian reforms are inadequate, highlighting extensive low-rise zoning, widespread heritage overlays, and slow appeal processes that limit the ‘missing middle.’
- The release lands as prices rise and policy settings evolve, with 5,778 buyers using the expanded 5% deposit guarantees in October and insurers warning against building in high‑risk locations.