WHY BUILDERS THINK NEW PLANNING RULES AREN'T 'GOING TO DO ANYTHING' FOR CANBERRA
WHY BUILDERS THINK NEW PLANNING RULES AREN'T 'GOING TO DO ANYTHING' FOR CANBERRA
22 May 2025 | The Canberra Times | By Lucy Arundell
Some of Canberra's builders say a proposed change to the territory's planning rules isnt goint to help them build more homes as approval stagnate and government fees cut into profits.
Tradesmen in the construction industry say the real challenges are the lenthy approval wait times for developments, high government fees for projects and protest from local residents.
However an industry body says the proposed change is a step in the right direction, provided it allows for express entry, or faster processing times, for development applications.
The proposed planning change, which was announced on tuesday, May 20, would allow townhouses and two-storey apartment buildings in Canberra's suburbs, lifting a restriction that limits most streets to detached homes.
Urban planner, David Shearer on why Canberra needs dense housing in the inner suburbs.
Lengthy Approval Delays
Builder Micahel Brucic said he's been waiting for planning approval to build town houses on two blocks of land in Kaleen for two years.
"A(Single-story home) is not hard to build and we're very efficient at building them now, it has all got to do with planning," he said.
"If you're serious about building more houses, release more land at affordable prices."
Mr Brucic said builders were taking out loans to by blocks, only for the land to sit there for a year or more, waiting for planning approval.
Builder Michael Brucic at a construction site in Griffith. Picture by Gary Ramage.
'Just Not Viable'
Owner of BB Homes Jeoff Noja said the cost of fees to build homes was strangling the industry.
"It's just not viable now because of the cost of building and then the end value of the property, so that's why people aren't redeveloping. It's not because there isn't enough land," he said.
Builder Jeoff Noja standing in front of a townhouse under construction. Picture by Gary Ramage.
"Rezoning isn't going to do anything."
The builder said development application fees, building approval fees and betterment tax made up too high a percentage of construction profits.
"Say we buy two blocks of land side by side and we redevelop that into five townhouses. There's about $200,000 worth of government fees and charges that goes into redeveloping that," he said.
"Say you're making $75,000 profit per residence, the government has just taken almost three residences' worth of profit."
Master Builders ACT Chief Executive, Anna Neelagama said while the construction industry faces a multitude of challenges, the proposed planning change was a "step in the right direction".
"What we've seen is sluggish activity in the building and construction sector for some (time) ... reforms of this kind and changes to the Territory Plan will drive that activity, so it's welcome," she said.
The Chief Executive has previously campaigned for the ACT to adopt a planning model similar to that of Auckland in New Zealand. The city relaxed several planning requirements in 2016 to encourage "missing middle" housing.
The really important thing about this reform will be ensuring there is express permitting or as-of-right planning entries," Ms Neelagama said.
"Once the changes to the territory planning reform are finalised, those people who want to build in those RZ1 and RZ2 zones with the design guide can just go ahead and build."
