New Canberra law speeds housing approvals for townhouses and granny flats
Approval timeframes for smaller housing projects drop from 60 to 30-45 working days.
Canberra has passed a law to speed up approvals for missing middle housing: townhouses, duplexes, terraces and secondary residences. The Planning (Missing Middle Housing) Amendment Bill came into effect on 1 July.
Smaller projects like subdivisions and consolidations are no longer treated as major development. This cuts review time from 60 days plus two rounds of public feedback down to 30-45 working days.
Secondary residences on single-dwelling leases no longer need a Crown lease change. Minor lease changes are reviewed in just 10 days.
Examples include a family building a granny flat in Curtin or a builder developing three townhouses in Red Hill. Planning Minister Chris Steel said the changes will help Canberrans find more housing choices.
- 60 days plus two rounds of public feedback
- Old approval timeframe
- 30-45 working days
- New approval timeframe
- 10 days
- Secondary residence assessment
- 1 July
- Law effective date
Why it mattersMore granny flats and small housing projects get built faster, easing the local shortage.
AustraliaACT residents can now build secondary residences with less paperwork, opening new housing options.
✓ Claims checked against the source. checked 2 h ago
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