Canberra is growing quickly. By 2050, we expect nearly 700,000 people to call our city home.

That’s why we have a plan to enable 30,000 new homes across Canberra in the next five years. These new homes will support more housing choice in new and existing suburbs across the ACT.

Meeting this goal is not just about building more houses – it’s about making sure the new homes that get built include a variety of housing choice.

The ACT has only a limited amount of available land left for new suburbs which means we can’t rely on new suburban developments alone to fit our growing population. We need to make better use of our existing suburbs and plan for a more compact, efficient and sustainable Canberra.

Currently, new homes in Canberra are mostly single houses or high-density apartments in our town and city centres. This leaves a ‘gap’ or ‘missing middle’ in the housing market.

Missing middle housing includes:

• dual or tri-occupancies (2 or 3 homes on one block),
• townhouses and terrace homes
• low-rise apartments.

To make more of this type of housing possible, the ACT Government is updating our planning system with:

• The Missing Middle Housing Design Guide which will provide good practice guidance for creating well-designed homes that respect local character and contribute positively to our existing streets and neighbourhoods.
• Changes to the Territory Plan which will remove barriers in the planning system and allow more housing options (including more townhouses, terraces, duplexes and low-rise apartments) in RZ1 and RZ2 areas. These changes will make it easier to build well-designed, sustainable homes in our existing suburbs.
• These two elements have been carefully considered and are closely linked to one another.

These changes will help our city change over time, responding to housing demand and ensuring Canberra has a strong supply of well-designed, diverse, affordable and sustainable housing options for our growing community.

For more information about the Missing Middle Housing Reforms you can download the Snapshot document.

The ACT Government is seeking comments and submissions on the proposed Missing Middle Housing Reforms, including feedback on the draft Missing Middle Housing Design Guide and the draft Major Plan Amendment to the Territory Plan. The reforms will help the planning system to quickly respond to population growth and market demand, reducing the need for housing in undeveloped areas or green spaces and creating a more compact and efficient city.

The community’s input is vital in shaping well-designed and sustainable housing options that can be delivered to enhance our neighbourhoods and meet the needs of current and future residents.

To formalise this change, we need to amend the Territory Plan which is the overarching planning document and which sets out what you can do in each land use zone. Without this change, missing middle housing will remain limited in the ACT. The draft Major Plan Amendment includes updates to key policies and supporting documents in the Territory Plan including the Residential Zones and Subdivision policies and associated technical specifications. The reforms include changes to:

• residential zone policy outcomes
• building heights
• minimum block area for 2 dwellings
• maximum dwelling numbers on a block
• allowable subdivision and block consolidation.

More detail about the proposed changes is provided in the Supporting Report to the Draft Plan Amendment. Key proposed changes are summarised in this comparison table within the snapshot document.

The ACT Government has worked with expert consultants as well as local design and architecture experts to develop the draft Missing Middle Housing Design Guide (the draft guide). This will be a new addition to the existing suite of design guidance documents that help us create better buildings and public spaces across our city. The document provides guidance on how to achieve best practice design outcomes for new ‘missing middle’ homes built in existing suburbs by:

• supporting building different types of ‘missing middle’ housing in a way that fits well with existing neighbourhood context and character.
• encouraging sustainable building practices, efficient land use and minimal negative impact on the natural environment
• promoting designs that deliver lively, safe and walkable communities with better access to local amenities.

The draft guide includes four parts that can be used by design professionals, builders and landowners to achieve good design for missing middle housing projects:

• Part one: Introduction and Purpose
• Part two: Character and Site
• Part three: Design Guidelines for
  • Site and Land Use
  • Access and Movement
  • Public Space and Amenity
  • Built Form and Building Design
  • Sustainability and Environment
• Part four: Appendices including a missing middle housing checklist.

We’re inviting you to consider the draft Missing Middle Housing Design Guide and draft Major Plan Amendment to the Territory Plan and to let us know what you think. Your feedback will inform the final version of the Missing Middle Housing Design Guide and the changes to the Territory Plan and relevant technical specifications.

Most land in the ACT suitable for buildings (urban land) is zoned for residential use, or RZ, meaning it is land for housing (including houses and multi-units).

RZ1 the ‘Suburban Zone’, makes up 79.7% of Canberra’s residential land, and typically includes mainly single houses.

RZ2, the ‘Suburban Core’, (around 12.9% of the city’s residential land) is usually located closer to local shops or services and allows for a greater mix of single houses and low density.

RZ3, RZ4 and RZ5 zones allow higher medium density and taller buildings (like apartments). These are often close to our town centres and core commercial centres, or main transport corridors.

If you would like to find out more about your zone, visit ACTmapi and click on the 'Territory Plan' map.

Move the slider to see an example of how some typical Canberra streets might adapt over time as more housing types are built.