Greater Canberra

Decades of zoning rules locked out the homes Canberra needed. Not anymore.

The Missing Middle reforms have passed and will be live as of 1 July!

This is a major win for a more affordable, more liveable Canberra, one where more people can live close to jobs, schools, shops, public transport, parks and the communities they love.

There is still much more to do. But today, Canberra took an important step away from exclusionary zoning and toward a better city.

And now our Missing Middle celebration is no longer hopeful, it’s a real celebration.

Join us on Friday 19 June, 7–10pm in the Castle Room at King O'Malleys to mark a huge win for more homes and a better Canberra.

Details and RSVP here: https://www.facebook.com/share/1cXJNrPW6L/

Greater Canberra welcomes important Budget support for Missing Middle housing.

With the reforms due to start next month, the ACT Budget includes measures that will help unlock more homes: an LVC discount, the creation of a Missing Middle pattern book, and continued investment in public and community housing.

These are important wins, but implementation will matter.

Read our full statement in the slides

The Missing Middle reforms are nearly law, but there’s one final step.

On 12 June, if no motion to reject is moved in the Legislative Assembly, the reforms can become part of the Territory Plan. That means more townhouses, terraces, duplexes and low-rise homes in the places Canberrans already want to live.

So on Friday 19 June, we’re getting together to celebrate!

Join Greater Canberra in the Castle Room at King O’Malley’s to celebrate the campaign, and talk about what comes next for housing in Canberra.

Bring a friend, grab a drink, and celebrate the movement for more homes, more choice, and a better Canberra.

When: Friday 19 June, 7pm–10pm
Where: The Castle Room, King O’Malley’s
Link: https://www.facebook.com/share/1CnuDEmvpZ/

MEDIA RELEASE: Missing Middle approval a turning point for Canberra

Today’s decision by the Planning Minister, Chris Steel MLA, to approve the Missing Middle Housing Reforms marks a turning point for Canberra.

For decades, government policies have made it impossible to build the homes we need to provide diversity and choice in where we live. Solving our housing challenges requires bold, large-scale reforms. We commend Minister Steel for delivering on the Government’s election promises and reforming our zoning system to allow more homes across all of Canberra.

As Canberra grows, these reforms will give Canberrans the choice to live closer to job opportunities, shops, schools, parks and public transport, with a lower environmental impact. Allowing more homes to be built closer to opportunity and infrastructure is a win-win-win for our environment, our economy and our social wellbeing.

These reforms were made possible by the support of our Missing Middle Canberra partnership, backed by advocates from across the community and industry. Their support, advice and input over the past three years has been invaluable.

The final version of the amendment will now be presented to the Legislative Assembly, where a motion to reject may be brought within five sitting days. As the Standing Committee on Environment and Planning has unanimously recommended that the amendment be approved, we urge MLAs from all parties to support these reforms so they can commence as soon as possible.

We also urge the Assembly to pass the Planning (Missing Middle Housing) Amendment Bill 2026, which will cut unnecessary red tape and make Missing Middle housing easier to deliver. This bill is currently before the Standing Committee on Environment and Planning. The Assembly should pass this legislation quickly.

Once these reforms commence, we’ll be watching closely to see how they work in practice. Further tweaks should be expected as industry and government gain more practical experience with Missing Middle developments. For these reforms to be most effective, the Government must review other policy settings, including the Lease Variation Charge.

There is still more work to do, but today Canberra has decided to take a bold step in the right direction to solve our housing crisis and build a more liveable, sustainable and affordable city.

https://greatercanberra.org/blog/media-release-missing-middle-approval-a-turning-point-for-canberra

New research from the Grattan Institute shows that costly parking requirements make homes less affordable.

Read their full report - "Wasted space: Axe car-parking rules to ease the housing crisis" ➡️ https://grattan.edu.au/report/wasted-space-axe-car-parking-rules-to-ease-the-housing-crisis/

Media Release: Federal upzoning incentives should reward the ACT

We welcome this weekend’s Federal Budget announcement of a $2 billion local infrastructure fund to unlock more homes across the country. As one of Australia’s fastest-growing cities over the last couple of decades, Canberra must get its fair share of this huge federal investment.

As a member organisation of the Abundant Housing Network Australia, we called for the establishment of a federal infrastructure fund in AHNA’s 2025 election policy statement, the Brick Book (https://abundanthousing.org.au/docs/2504-Brick_Book.pdf).

The Commonwealth has made clear that this funding is tied to upzoning in well-located areas and fixing planning system bottlenecks. States and territories are on notice that they won’t get funding for infrastructure if they’re not allowing homes in the places that already have the infrastructure and create the highest social returns on investment.

Our current pipeline of planning reforms sets us up well to benefit from this fund. This announcement underscores the importance of getting our Missing Middle Housing Reforms done right, and being ambitious rather than timid in planning for housing around Light Rail Stage 2B and the Southern Gateway.

We look forward to seeing the details of the local infrastructure funding plan, and we call on the Commonwealth to work with the ACT Government to ensure Canberra gets the funding it deserves. The ACT should be rewarded for pursuing large-scale, universal zoning reforms, not short-changed due to the progress we are already making towards enabling housing supply.

While we expect a significant portion of the fund to go to works enabling greenfields development, including necessary suburban road infrastructure, the Commonwealth must also ensure this funding is available for infrastructure supporting urban infill, including active and public transport investments.

We also welcome the announcement of a number of other housing productivity measures, including free access to Australian Standards that are mandatory for construction. Cutting these unnecessary costs will make Missing Middle housing projects more viable, particularly for smaller-scale developers and contractors.

In the nation’s capital, the Commonwealth has a special role to play in housing policy as both a landowner and a regulator. We are pleased that recently the National Capital Authority has been putting forward significant proposals to deliver more housing in NCA Designated Areas. The NCA should work as closely as possible with the ACT Government to ensure that planning reforms and infrastructure delivery are coordinated across both territory and federal jurisdiction. We also call on the Commonwealth to finalise the negotiations on the CSIRO Ginninderra site as soon as possible.

The Abundant Housing Network Australia, a national coalition of pro-housing advocates in Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, has also released a statement in response to this announcement: https://yimby.melbourne/news/national-upzoning-incentive-fund

https://greatercanberra.org/blog/media-release-federal-upzoning-incentives-should-reward-the-act

Outdated, costly parking requirements are a barrier to making cities more liveable, sustainable and affordable.

Join our partners at the Parking Reform Network tomorrow from 9-10am, for an online panel discussion on parking reform in Australia:

Parking Reform Down Under · Zoom · Luma Australia is starting to wake up to parking reform. Across the country, most places still have high parking mandates and a parking fee phobia. Outdated parking…

Reminder: our Greater Canberra Coffee Catch Up is on tomorrow ☕

Come say hello, meet some like-minded Canberrans, and have a casual yap about Canberra over coffee.

10am–11:30am tomorrow
Saturday 2 May 2026
East Row, Civic

Everyone welcome :)

MEDIA RELEASE: Assembly backs Missing Middle reform

Today, every member of the Legislative Assembly’s Environment and Planning Committee endorsed the Missing Middle Housing Reforms, recognising the need for bold, comprehensive and universal zoning reform to deliver a more liveable, sustainable and affordable Canberra. These reforms will legalise townhouses, terraces, low rise apartments and other forms of medium density housing throughout Canberra.

We call on the Government to finalise its response and present the final version of the Missing Middle plan amendments as soon as possible. These reforms followed commitments taken by multiple parties to the 2024 election, and were developed through an extensive process of consultation over several years, with excellent engagement from across the community. We can’t afford to delay or water down these changes. The Government must finalise this amendment as quickly as possible.

The challenge is now to ensure that Missing Middle homes become a reality, otherwise Canberra will get the appearance of reform without the homes. A rulebook that says yes in principle but no in practice will not help renters, young families, downsizers or anyone else looking for more housing options.

We agree with the Committee’s observation that “it is not clear why the limits on block consolidation are set, or how they relate to the desired outcome”, and support their recommendation to review these limits. We agree with other stakeholders that these arbitrary limits will hold back high-quality outcomes, and should be removed. We also support Caitlin Tough MLA’s recommendation for reform of solar fence provisions, as informed by the evidence of practitioners and the Australian Institute of Architects.

We also welcome the Committee’s various recommendations towards continuous monitoring, evaluation and improvement of the reforms. The Missing Middle Housing Reforms will be the largest reforms to Canberra’s planning system this century, and we won’t get everything right immediately. We will continue to work with the Government and the community to make sure these reforms actually deliver the city Canberrans deserve.

However, the universality of the Missing Middle Housing Reforms must be upheld. There should not be one rule for Curtin and one for Charnwood. The Government should not provide special treatment to Canberra’s wealthiest suburbs. Local character rules must not be an excuse to prevent people from having a home. Heritage protections should apply narrowly to heritage registered places themselves, not amorphously extended to entire suburbs.

Developments that provide the specified rate of off-street parking should not be subject to the uncertainty of challenges on the basis that they might contribute to problems with off-street parking. We urge caution on the Committee’s recommendations in this space.

As Peter Cain MLA has emphasised, the Government now needs to focus on other practical barriers to Missing Middle feasibility. We strongly support the Committee’s recommendation to review the Lease Variation Charge to ensure that the LVC balances land value capture with encouraging Missing Middle development. We note that the Government has introduced legislation to streamline the lease variation, subdivision and consolidation processes, and we call on all parties to ensure these straightforward process reforms are implemented quickly.

Canberra needs more homes, and more housing choices. The Missing Middle Housing Reforms are critical to delivering more homes for Canberrans, including public, community and affordable housing. They will give more Canberrans the choice to live closer to jobs, shops, schools, parks and public transport, with a significantly lower environmental and emissions impact than greenfields developments. We look forward to seeing these amendments approved.

https://greatercanberra.org/blog/media-release-assembly-backs-missing-middle-reform

The housing crisis is not a mystery.

We are not building enough homes where people actually want to live.

The answer is not endless sprawl on the fringe. It is allowing more homes in established suburbs, close to jobs, transport, shops and services.

Cities around the world have shown what happens when you legalise more housing and actually build it: supply rises and rents are lower than they otherwise would be.

Canberra can do the same.

More homes. Lower rents. Better city.

Swipe through. Join us: greatercanberra.org