Australia's planning laws have been scorned by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Urban Taskforce has claimed.
This international organisation representing the governments of the world's developed nations claims in its recently-published report Economic Surveys: Australia, Volume 2010/21 that restrictive planning laws in the country could put the economy at risk.
The Urban Taskforce's chief executive Aaron Gadiel said that the report gives the nation an "early warning" that the laws need to be amended.
"A rising share of the population is being priced out of the [housing] market," the OECD report states.
"Measures should be adopted to stimulate supply and more efficient use of the existing housing stock," it adds.
The report went on to say that more transparent and streamlined planning and zoning regulations need to be created.
A report published last month by the University of Melbourne's think-tank the Grattan Institute, titled Cities: Who Decides?, stated that the views of property owners in Australia should be taken into consideration when it comes to plans for the future of their cities.
Posted by Steve Douglas
