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A new “Planning Blueprint Scorecard” from the Housing Industry Association (HIA) is ill-conceived and fails to recognise the important role of good planning to creating great communities, according to the Planning Institute of Australia (PIA).

PIA CEO Matt Collins said effective planning is essential for enabling more homes in Australia, but the HIA’s scorecard criteria would mean high rankings for bad development if the approval was given fast.

“This scorecard would give an ‘A’ to planning systems that give fast approvals for developments with housing in a floodplain, and an ‘F’ to planning systems that ensure new developments are well-designed with parks, transport and street trees,” Mr Collins said.

“We absolutely need more housing, but we also need to ensure this housing is in good quality places with the infrastructure and services our communities depend on,” he said.

“Planning is essential to delivering the right housing in the right place – and good planning makes sure that housing works alongside all the other things communities need like jobs, transport and spaces for recreation,” he said.

“The Federal Government’s Housing Accord sets out a target of 1.2 million new homes, but also says these should be in well-located areas,” he said.

The report card includes spurious claims unsupported by evidence, including that it is common for stand-alone house approvals to take more than 6 months. The reality is statutory planning systems across Australia are delivering high rates of development approvals. For example:

• In Western Australia, almost 9 out of 10 development applications were determined within the statutory timeframe in 2022/23, and 98% of applications submitted during that period were approved. [1]
• In Victoria, VicSmart applications (which are straightforward lower risk developments) saw 81% of applications determined within 10 days so far this year, with a median assessment timeframe of 14 days (January to August). [2]
• In Queensland, there are 97,608 uncompleted residential lots within active approvals, waiting for developers to build on them (as at March 2024). [3]

“We need high-performing planning systems and there are opportunities for positive reform across Australia, but let’s have a real conversation about how use planning to enable the housing we need alongside the great communities people expect and deserve,” he said.

“We need to see better quality outcomes, not just fast ones,” he said.

For more information or comment:

Matt Collins, CEO – 0437 938 077
John Brockhoff, National Policy Director – 0400 953 025