Local councils not pulling their weight to solve the ongoing housing shortage crisis could soon be named and shamed under a new plan.
Slow approval processes by local governments are being blamed for contributing to the housing supply issue across the country.
The Business Council of Australia (BCA) is calling on state governments to set deadlines for approving housing development applications and to issue tougher sanctions on councils which cause bottlenecks.
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It’s part of the BCA’s move to boost housing supply and meet the federal government’s ambitious target of 1.2 million new homes over the next five years.
The report, titled It’s time to say yes, will target local councils which drag their feet on approving new developments.
The BCA is calling for state-wide council “report cards” to be issued to monitor the performance of local government housing approvals and intervention powers to remove council planning authority.
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The report cards would expose which councils are fast-acting and which ones are moving too slow.
Under the proposal, planning authority could be stripped for under-performing councils and financial incentives rewarded to high-performers.
Bran Black, chief executive at BCA, warned the recommendations would be “hard to implement” but said tough decisions needed to be made to address the country’s housing supply crisis.
“We have a housing supply crisis in Australia and we need to turbo-charge the assessment and approval process so we get more homes built faster,” Black said.
“This supply crisis, driven by a shortfall, means demand for limited houses further pushes up prices and rents, driving higher inflation which hurts all Australians.
“Plain and simple, we need more supply, and 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.”
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Black said he believes some councils “run down the clock” on development applications simply because they can.
He said local council power should be overwritten where possible to ensure the greater issue of national housing supply is addressed.
“State governments are best able to balance local feedback with the broader economic and policy priorities faced by the community around the need for housing,” he added.
The full report will be released in October and will contain policy recommendations to fix the national housing supply crisis.
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