The Brick Book

Politicians on all sides have failed to produce meaningful supply-side policies as part of their election platforms. The Abundant Housing Network of Australia has six.

Six key policies to fix the housing crisis

The Brick Book’s full suite of policy prescriptions are:

1. Introduce a National Townhouse Accord for Auckland-style upzoning for all of Australia
2. Fix the National Housing Accord incentives by paying the states to fix planning bottlenecks
3. Create a federal Targeted Infrastructure Feasibility Fund to unlock homes in high-productivity areas
4. Introduce a national occupational licencing regime to empower tradespeople to build where they are needed most
5. Boost Commonwealth Rent Assistance to make sure payments stay at levels that keep up with city rents
6. Rework tax and payment incentives for public, community, and youth housing tenants to end the youth housing penalty and make sure homes go to those who need them most

The Commonwealth can and should be more involved in housing

The Brick Book is inspired by AMCORD (opens in a new tab), the Commonwealth agreement that led to model urban planning legislation rolling out across Australia.

In the 2020s, the Commonwealth has shown a renewed interest in our cities, including by using the National Competition Policy to encourage building more supermarkets.

With a new National Urban Policy, and a housing crisis to beat, it is now time for the Federal Government to get back in the game of land use regulation.

Signature ask: National Townhouse Accord, unlocking Auckland-style upzoning for all of Australia

The Brick Book’s signature ask is for a National Townhouse Accord, a National Cabinet brought together to liberalise planning restrictions and make townhouses legal to build everywhere in Australia.

The Accord would set a new foundation for Australia’s urban planning, hitting a reset on decades of complex and self-defeating planning regulations that have only led to lower completions, more expensive housing, and worse urban design outcomes.

This policy is designed to replicate the runaway success of Auckland’s bipartisan housing and planning policies over the last decade, which have delivered a huge growth in private, public and community housing completions — while taking some of the best homegrown innovations like Victoria’s new Townhouse and Midrise Code (opens in a new tab) and Western Australia’s Targeted Apartment Rebate national.