Just days from the ACT election, the Canberra property industry is urging party leaders to consider how to overcome bottlenecks to development in the territory.
Developers have for some time raised concerns about development application approval wait times under the current government.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr and Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee were questioned on their approaches to territory planning during a leaders debate hosted by the Property Council on October 16.
"Our members just wonder where the line in the sand is," the debate moderator, Gino Luglietti of the Property Council, said.
Ian Fleming of The Fleming Group, which has developed places like Moore Business Park in Hume and The Lazenby in Strathnairn, told The Canberra Times it was common practice to receive a request for information on "straight forward" development applications as a way for the government to stall approval.
He said this was costing thousands - and in some cases millions - of additional dollars per development and ultimately delaying the territory's housing pipeline.
'It was a commitment that was made'
The Housing Institute of Australia's ACT director, Greg Weller, told The Canberra Times the ACT had the lowest number of approved detached houses in the 2023-24 financial year since records began.
Apartment approvals slumped to a 10-year low the year prior, though picked up again by the end of last financial year.
Several ACT developers have branched into other jurisdictions for new projects.
Amalgamated Property Group has two active projects at Broadbeach, on the Gold Coast, and Morris Property Group have at least seven Queensland developments.
The Fleming Group's work on the NSW South Coast is now a focus for them, owing in part to long development application approval timeframes in Canberra.
Mr Barr defended the approval wait times during the October 16 leaders debate, saying the government had put a "lot of focus on the [ACT] planning system" during this term, which included the updated Territory Plan and Planning Act.
"It was a commitment that was made. It took a huge amount of time and resources," Mr Barr said.
"The work that was done sets up [a] new pathway for certainty with the new planning act in place," he said, adding the system would allow more housing to be built in strategic locations.
But Mr Fleming said the current government was encouraging land banking through their policies.
"You make more money doing nothing in Canberra than developing," he said.
Ms Lee said during the debate that approval wait times caused "frustration" and a lack of certainty in the property sector.
"There seems to be a lack of can-do attitude," she said.
Ms Lee said the Canberra Liberals would examine the planning system to see if it was fit for purpose, but did not indicate specific policy changes.
Residents and tradies wear cost
Delays were particularly concerning for "missing middle" developments, like townhouses and small apartment blocks, which would unlock housing for Canberra's growing population, Mr Weller said.
The territory government's population projections show Canberra needs 100,000 new homes by 2050, with a focus on medium density.
He said both major parties had "ambitious" housing targets, but they could not be reached without policy adjustments.
This included the removal of an "over-reach" of red tape like the revised developer licensing laws, which passed in June.
"We are really falling in terms of getting homes onto the [market]," Mr Weller said.
The Master Builders ACT chief executive, Anna Neelagama, said tradespeople and land owners were wearing the cost of long approval times.
"[The viability of the planning system] is essential to the profitability of the building business," she said.
A string of Canberra-based builders, including Project Coordination and PBS Building, have collapsed in recent years amidst difficult conditions.
