It's too early to judge the success of Victoria's planning reforms based on permit statistics before the first Townhouse Code-enabled permit was likely even approved!

It shouldn't take years to rezone well-located land for more housing. The newly announced Unlocking Strategic Sites pathway is another positive (small) step towards a more affordable Melbourne.

Ten-day subdivisions send clear signal: Victoria can move fast and build things. You love to see it.

Stonnington is claiming that their current strategy can deliver 17,000 homes *more* than the Victorian Government's housing target. However, they fail to mention that their strategy needs nearly the entirety of Stonnington to be demolished and rebuilt by 2051. Very feasible...

Disappointing to see a majority of City of Yarra councillors vote to kill the redevelopment of Piedimonte's supermarket despite the council officer's recommendation supporting the redevelopment.

The Victorian Government today has released the draft plans for the next 25 activity centres in its upzoning program. It's great to see more homes being enabled around our world-class train and tram network!

🎙️ Our lead organiser, @jonobri.com, appeared on the latest episode of "The Elephant in the Room" podcast, discussing the need for a realignment between the balance of progress and conservation. [Link in next post]

*Local councils ban medium-density housing in most of our suburbs* Local councils: "Why is nobody building the housing we banned?" 🤔🤔🤔

Remains a mystery why we have a housing shortage...

Are subsidised homes for the middle class better than social housing for those at risk of homelessness? Planning academics and Yarra’s mayor seem to think so. We support the DFP’s 3% levy for Victoria’s Social Housing Growth Fund, which means more social housing for more people.

A new paper highlights that while countries like Australia have seen construction productivity fall, NZ saw a boom in the 2010s. Their secret? Zoning reform. By allowing more medium-density housing in cities like Auckland, they supercharged their construction sector

We used to build 50 homes per planner annually, but now it’s less than 9. Alan Kohler covering our recent research note on planner productivity 👇 www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iEh...

The cost discrepancy between community and public housing, caused by the inconsistent application of GST, is a significant reason why we're seeing public housing builds decrease as a portion of our social housing stock.

Architect Rowan Opat is bang on the money here. We need to upzone to allow more competition into the market.

This 3-part podcast series on New Zealand's housing crisis is a must-listen for the housing policy wonks. Australia's story is slightly different, but the core ideas and themes remain the same.👇

They can't help but lie about us 💅

The Planning Institute of Australia's response to YIMBY Melbourne's research demonstrates exactly why our planning system is broken. We never said that there are too many planners. We said that the sector's productivity has collapsed. 👇

Our lead organiser, @jonobri.com, writes for @inflectionpoints.work about "The Problem with Urban Planning" 👇

Australia's cities have extremely low densities relative to their international counterparts. The idea that this low density is impossible to overcome is silly. This type of conservative thinking is partly to blame for the housing crisis.

Want a fairer, more equitable future for young Australians? It starts with unlocking productivity. Our very own @jonobri.com is joining this expert panel to unpack how we get there and what it means for the next generation. Don’t miss it 👇 events.humanitix.com/generation-p...

Fantastic piece from Shane Wright highlighting how well-intended planning rules can make us all poorer 👇 www.smh.com.au/politics/fed...

The City of Sydney just introduced new net dwelling retention controls to stop old apartment buildings from being demolished and replaced with fewer large apartments. A well-intentioned move — but it could make the housing crisis worse. Here’s why:

The Vacant Residential Land Tax is great, but as Grattan Institute’s Brendan Coates says: “it’s difficult to enforce and could only have a marginal impact on unlocking housing.” The real solution is to build more homes. www.theage.com.au/national/vic...

Heritage madness, again. Heritage tensions threaten new retirement village for downsizers 👇

Less parking in new developments actually reduces car ownership and reliance on driving, shaping more sustainable transportation habits. Reducing parking minimums is good for affordability and sustainability!

You can't make this up. The City of Melbourne blocked the redevelopment of the former Cancer Council building due to its heritage. A downzoning of the area was just approved, again, due to heritage. The City of Melbourne is now considering taxing the owners for not developing!

Local government lobby groups mislead the public at critical junctures of the debate around planning reform. It's disappointing but increasingly common.

Community consultation models are broken. They give a megaphone to older, time-rich residents while locking out younger, time-poor voices. The result is a political system tilted toward short-term thinking and against long-term progress.

Another day, another example why giving NIMBYs veto powers to block housing is a Bad Idea. www.theage.com.au/national/vic...

Do NIMBYs deserve the right to veto housing? We don't think so 👇

The OECD tells Australia we need to fix our broken planning systems to get out of our housing crisis 👇

Banyule Council opposes 200 affordable housing units because of car parking and the lack of community veto.

The mandate for building more is clear. Now it's time to do it. 🏗️🏬

The YIMBY vibeshift continues.

Youth homelessness is one of the clearest signs of a broken housing system. Lives are derailed nation-wide just as they’re getting started, and yet the way we fund social housing makes it harder to help. Let’s talk about why 🧵 www.theage.com.au/national/vic...

Boroondara's conservative planners have the incoherent position that there is both too much tax and too little tax on housing. Serious economic analysis from people who determine how our housing system functions. 😀

A new report from CEDA reaffirms what we know: our broken urban planning systems are making it more costly to build more homes.

Not enough trees Too many trees The wrong trees The right trees (but too many) The trees too big The trees not big enough The trees too native The trees not native enough The canopy being removed The canopy not being removed enough We have to stop taking NIMBYs seriously

The undiscussed headline of last week: Victoria is the only state even close to achieving their housing target under the National Housing Accord. This is huge news for housing affordability in Melbourne and state-wide.

The real story here is how detached house knockdown-rebuilds are exempt from many infrastructure charges also. That means that Melbourne's most high-end, expensive housing goes untaxed—letting wealthy homeowners get off without paying for their fair share of infrastructure.

The new report from the National Housing Supply & Affordability Council is the first from them that I've seen take planning reform seriously. They celebrate the NSW and VIC reforms—and encourage those governments to go further. An enormous vibe shift from NHSAC.

It's fantastic to see @greatercanberra.org.au strong advocacy for zoning reform is paying off! The only way to end this housing shortage is to build our way out.

Many Melbourne-based NIMBYs push for decentralisation as a solution to the housing shortage. This ignores the reality that NIMBYs are everywhere. We should build more homes where people want to live, whether in Melbourne, Ballarat, or anywhere else in our great state.

I like my reforms like I like my architecture: minimal setbacks.

The off-the-plan stamp duty concessions have been extended! This makes it easier to kick off homebuilding projects — even in today’s tough economic climate — bringing more housing options to more Melburnians. More homes, more choice, and a step closer to tackling the crisis.

Not all public land sales are equal, but the Piedimonte redevelopment is a winner: ✅Much-needed lot consolidation for more homes ✅Fair market compensation for the land ✅A brand-new laneway gifted to the council to keep pedestrian access A win for everyone.

The new height limits around the Royal Exhibition Building won’t protect heritage—but they will block homes for Melbourne families near the CBD.

Last week, we told the Planning Reform Inquiry loud and clear: don’t kill the reforms. Victoria’s future depends on it. Here’s @jonobri.com 's opening statement 👇

Our leads, @jonobri.com and @ethangilbert.bsky.social, will be appearing before the Inquiry into Victoria Planning Provisions amendments VC257, VC267 and VC274 at 10:10am today! The housing shortage will only be solved with ambitious reforms. Today we'll make the case.

The Activity Centre Program is a chance to open up high-opportunity suburbs to more Victorians. Many of these centres are in wealthy, segregated areas with declining child populations. More housing here means more families, better use of transit, and greater equity.