Australian homes could be $100k cheaper in 10 years with one change to zoning rules, report finds

Modelling from the Grattan Institute suggests its proposed zoning reforms could lift housing construction across Australia by up to 67,000 homes a year, against 174,300 dwellings built in the year to June. Photograph: Steven Markham/AAP

Homes could be $100,000 cheaper over a decade if Australia’s capital cities dramatically overhaul their zoning rules to allow three-storey townhouses and apartments to be built on all residential land, according to a new report from the Grattan Institute.

Calling for an end to the “age of nimby-ism” and “a housing policy revolution”, the independent thinktank said Australians were keen to embrace apartment and townhouse living, especially if it meant access to more affordable and well-situated homes.