Regulations which affect the supply of new homes across Australia are set to be examined as the nation tries to speed up new housing delivery.

The Productivity Commission has called for submissions for its inquiry into housing supply regulation.

The inquiry will assess how regulatory systems affect new housing delivery across states and territories.

Specific focus areas will include:

• Approval process, including development and building approvals as well as post-approval processes. This will include any barriers to improve uptake of more productive methods of construction
• Land use and availability, including land releases and land use controls.
• Processes and frameworks to deliver new housing infrastructure and to better use existing infrastructure. This will include growth infrastructure planning and models of developer contributions.

The review will not consider potential reform of the National Construction Code and its governance arrangements.

This is being considered separately as part of the NCC Modernisation Project.

The inquiry comes amid ongoing concern that Australia is not delivering enough homes to meet the national housing target which is established under the National Housing Accord of completing 1.2 million new homes over the five years to June 2029 (see chart).

This is the case despite state and territory efforts to reform planning systems.

The inquiry also comes amid concern about both the impact of regulation on new housing delivery and the productivity performance of the housing sector in general.

In a paper released last year, the Productivity Commission estimated that regulation adds between $135, 000 and $320,000 to the cost of the average new house and between $40,000 and $175,000 to the cost of an average new unit.

That same paper suggested that the number of dwellings which have been completed for every physical labour hour worked declined by 53 percent over the 28 years to 2022/23.

Initial submissions are due by Monday June 15.

These should focus on which regulations have the greatest impact on new home delivery along with the priorities which need to be considered for the report. Data, case studies and evidence are welcome.

An interim report is expected by the end of July. The final report will be provided to the Australian Government by March 2027.

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