Better economic insights make for better housing policy. This was a big part of the case for land use planning reform we made in our recent housing research at Grattan. That’s why it was great to see NSW commit this week to feasible capacity targets for local council plans. 🧵

YIMBY WIN: Today Minns has announced that they’re going to get councils to prepare plans with 30 years of *feasible* capacity to address the housing crisis. This comes after the NSW Prod Comm report showing feasible capacity has doubled under current govt, but needs to be 4Xed.

Everybody wants house prices down. The only way we can get there is by building more homes.

Victoria’s planning reforms are working. There's been nearly a 50% increase in Townhouse permits since last year. Turns out it's not complicated: make building easier, and the homes follow.

Did you know 40% of apartment parking spots spend the night empty? Come along to our talk on Grattan’s latest report advocating removing parking minimums, this Wednesday 6pm in thr city: membership.sydney.yimby.au/public/sched...

📅 Wasted Space: Axe Car Parking Rules to Ease the Housing Crisis - 27-05-2026

🗓️ 27-05-2026 18:00 – 21:00 📍 Henley's Bar & Kitchen

membership.sydney.yimby.au

Fantastic news. Housing forms that have already been consulted on in detail when the area gets upzoned should not be subject to a further drawn out process by the local vetocracy whose only goal is delay. Endless consultation processes only get in the way of housing we desperately need.

Grattan Institute’s new report shows that letting Australian homebuyers choose the car-parking they need will: → make housing cheaper, → get more homes built faster, and → create more walkable cities.

We probably shouldn't have spent the last 30+ years preventing any apartments from being built in the most desirable parts of Sydney

Elise Thomas@elisethomas.bsky.social · 3mo ago

A million dollars won't guarantee you an indoor toilet in Sydney.

Two years ago we were photographed by the AFR in front of these really pedestrian homes in a heritage conservation area in Roseville. They subsequently got upzoned in Ku-ring-gai’s masterplan… and now there’s a DA for 130 homes at 9 storeys on this site.

Please never let Mosman Council stop finding new ways to argue against housing

Rents fell in Austin when they built more homes. Good things are possible when you do planning reform 🏗️

Building more homes works

Perhaps instead of claiming that student housing is crowding out apartments, Randwick council might consider zoning additional capacity in Kensington and Kingsford? They have the ability to do that www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03...

'Perverse': Sydney council wants to ban commercial student housing

For every 10 student rooms being built, there is only one residential property in an area of Sydney's east. The mayor says the housing market has been "monopolised".

abc.net.au

Parliamentary inquiry into community consultation practices finds that local government ‘opt-in’ consultation is biased against renters and the young →

A massive victory in the war against upper-level setbacks! The Mid-Rise Code offers greater housing certainty for Melburnians. It also winds back one of the most damaging and poorly evidenced planning controls: upper-level setbacks.

WATCH/LISTEN: This is an EXCEPTIONALLY good break-down (and highly entertaining conversation) of the history and insanity of the attacks on the “15-Minute City,” aka the simple idea of HAVING MORE THINGS NEARBY. By @iandunt.bsky.social & @dorianlynskey.bsky.social of @originstorypodcast.bsky.social.

15-Minute Cities – How Urban Design Entered the Culture War | Origin Story

YouTube video by Origin Story

youtu.be

Last call for tickets to see Alain Bertaud and Lucy Turnbull talk about cities and what they are for. It’s on Monday, but we’re currently tracking to sell out sometime tomorrow: events.humanitix.com/order-withou...

Last week, our lead organiser, Jonathan O'Brien, was on A Current Affair. He argued that we should not empower a loud minority to block new homes being built where people want to live.

PRESS RELEASE → Whilst YIMBY Melbourne applauds the Coalition’s more positive housing vision, their plans leave too much to be desired.

Last night Willoughby council decided to lock up more housing under heritage protection within 800m of a train and metro station. Decisions like that across Sydney and Australia lead directly to the reality outlined in the SMH this morning. www.smh.com.au/property/new...

How much you need to earn to buy a house now

For the average sole wage earner, the dream of buying a median-priced house is “basically dead and buried”, experts warn.

smh.com.au

Last week Sydney YIMBY was at Willoughby council speaking against a proposed new heritage conservation area. This week, Mayor Tanya Taylor has moved a motion to look at how we can make it easier to develop in heritage conservation areas. This passed after 45 mins of debate. A positive step!

Just over a week til our biggest event yet: Order Without Design with Alain Bertaud and Lucy Turnbull. Come see the former principal planner at the World Bank and former mayor of Sydney discuss how we can make our city better. 🎟️ just $20, bookings essential. events.humanitix.com/order-withou...

Order Without Design: How markets shape cities | Alain Bertaud & Lucy Turnbull | Sydney

Join Alain Bertaud (Order without Design) & Lucy Turnbull for an evening exploring how to make Australian cities work better for everyone. Don’t miss it!

events.humanitix.com

Amazing that people move to the CBD then complain about noise. State government should tell these people to get lost, instead they’re scrapping plans for a 24 hour cultural venue at Barangaroo.

The final draft plans for Melbourne’s Activity Centre Program show a promising vision for housing where people want to live. But YIMBY Melbourne warns that restrictive minimum lot size rules could leave new homes on the drawing board.

This is what winning looks like.

Cities are the vital engines of the Australian economy, and how we build them matters. This is a vital evening for those passionate about solving the housing crisis, and building more affordable, liveable, and sustainable Australian cities. events.humanitix.com/order-withou...

Cities are the vital engines of the Australian economy, and how we build them matters. This is a vital evening for those passionate about solving the housing crisis, and building more affordable, liveable, and sustainable Australian cities. events.humanitix.com/order-withou...

We do not build enough homes where people want to live. Why? Because our urban planning systems make it impossible. We need our planning system to say 'yes', not 'no'.

1300 homes next to Concord West station are up for consultation. Make a submission in favour by Monday: www.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/major-projec...