Australia is being urged to look further afield for inspiration to solve its housing affordability issues.
Major changes to zoning laws in New Zealand should be replicated in Australia to promote greater density and drive up housing supply, according to the nation's peak business group.
Ahead of a major report to be released later in October, the Business Council of Australia said on Thursday an extensive program of land rezoning would allow more medium and high-density homes to be built.
Council chief executive Bran Black said changes carried out in Auckland were an example of how rezoning overhauls had helped alleviate housing stress in New Zealand's most populous city.
"In 2016, Auckland, rezoned three-quarters of residential land and a massive increase in home building followed," he said.
"They've now shared a report showing that this has contained the cost of housing in the long run, approving affordability, with rents at least 26 per cent below what they would have been without the rezoning."
Long-term prices of houses in Auckland had also stabilised since the changes, Mr Black said.
The council has called for ways to allow home builders to put forward plans to boost supply that would be managed by state governments.
Consolidated zoning levels across jurisdictions would also help provide certainty for the industry, the report argues.
Mr Black said the zoning changes needed to allow for medium and high-density housing near services such as transport.
"We need state and territory governments to unlock more land for more homes in cities and towns across Australia so we can fix Australia's housing supply crisis," he said.
"These changes need to allow for greater density and height near good transport services, while at the same time protecting the quality of life, green space and heritage of an area."
The council has said the zoning changes are critical to help the federal government reach its target of 1.2 million homes built by the end of the decade.
However, construction bodies have forecast that the number will fall significantly short.
The Master Builders Association said if the current pace continued, some 365,000 homes would be left unbuilt.
Meanwhile, the peak body for the nation's co-operatives sector said Australia should follow the lead of European countries and adopt more co-op housing to ease rental affordability.
Improved funding could lift the share of co-ops to 10 per cent of all community housing, a report published by the Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals found.
Under the model, tenants share responsibility for managing and maintaining homes and in turn receive more affordable rent.
"We need new strategies that recognise the traditional model of private rental investment alone cannot deliver housing for all Australians in need," council chief executive Melina Morrison said.
"With the right legislative supports and policy settings, rental co-operatives could be established as a significant new housing class, bringing long term benefits to Australians."
The council said 20 per cent of all housing stock in Copenhagen was made up by co-ops, compared to 0.5 per cent in Australia.
Their report recommended changing the guidelines for the federal government's Housing Australia Future Fund to include a dedicated funding stream for affordable rental co-operatives.
