The Housing Industry Association (HIA) has renewed its call for sweeping planning reform across all levels of government, warning that current processes are too slow, too complex, and a key factor behind Australia’s worsening housing affordability crisis.
In a statement released with the updated version of its One House One Approval plan, HIA Executive Director of Planning and Development, Mike Hermon, said the time for small changes and delays has passed.
“Planning reform is a major part of solving the nation’s housing crisis and all state and territory governments need to implement major reforms now, to stem the tide of unaffordable housing,” Mr Hermon said.
The One House One Approval concept, first proposed by HIA in 2019, is designed to simplify and speed up the process of gaining building approval for a single home on residentially zoned land.
While some jurisdictions have mechanisms like Complying Development or Code Assessed Housing in place, HIA argues they are often overridden or complicated by additional layers of local council planning rules and secondary controls.
“HIA has been promoting the concept of ‘One House One Approval’ for a long time now,” Mr Hermon said.
“It is a simple concept that aims to create a pathway to deliver one approval for the construction of a single dwelling on land zoned as residential.
“Some states and territories have a version of One House One Approval, via Complying Development, Exempt Development or Code Assessed Housing, however, often these pathways get overridden by local council planning schemes, secondary planning controls and overly prescriptive planning provisions.”
According to HIA data, new houses that qualify for fast-tracked approval can be greenlit in approximately 24 days, compared to an average of 87 days for projects going through full council assessment.
These delays, Mr Hermon said, are not just bureaucratic—they’re expensive.
“In HIA’s latest CIE report on taxes, fees and charges, it highlighted that in Sydney, $576,000 of a new house and land package is made up [of] taxes, fees and regulatory costs,” he said.
“One of the significant contributors to this is the cost of delays in getting an approval to build.”
The updated report shows South Australia and Western Australia have made some progress, while other states such as Victoria and New South Wales have announced future reforms.
But HIA warns those plans don’t go far enough.
“South Australia and Western Australia have shown some improvements. Other states such as Victoria and NSW have announced prospective future reforms, yet these are just a fraction of what is needed to boost supply in our housing market,” Mr Hermon said.
“Recent state budget announcements on further planning reforms are another important step in the right direction, but more comprehensive reform is needed.”
The issue isn’t just one of affordability—it’s also about industry productivity and the ability to deliver homes at scale.
Mr Hermon said the lack of a nationally consistent, streamlined process was holding the sector back.
“Not only is the lack of true planning reform affecting housing supply levels, but it is also having significant impact on industry productivity.”
HIA estimates that implementing One House One Approval nationwide could reduce the cost of delivering a new home by up to $10,784.
The association is also calling for the integration of new technology, including AI-powered planning tools, which have already delivered impressive results in pilot programs.
“HIA is proposing that the adoption of ‘One House One Approval’ should be coupled with increased uptake of new technology such as AI planning tools, that are producing incredible results from government trials with one council approving new homes in less than a week and in a recent example just 2 days,” Mr Hermon said.
The Association is urging governments to embrace planning reform at a national scale to reduce duplication, cut red tape, and provide the certainty the housing and construction industry needs to meet demand.
“HIA continues to push for streamlined, nationally consistent regulatory processes that remove red tape and duplication,” Mr Hermon said.
“One House One Approval’ will give the industry the certainty it needs to build the homes Australians need now and, in the future.”
