Canberra is growing fast. To support this population growth the ACT Government aims to enable 30,000 new homes by 2030.
Meeting this goal is not just about building more houses – it’s about making sure the new homes provide housing choice. With limited undeveloped greenfield land, we need to make better use of our existing suburbs.
Right now, most homes in Canberra are either single houses or high-rise apartments. This leaves a gap for more diverse housing options – known as ‘Missing Middle’ housing.
Missing middle housing includes low-rise:
- multi-occupancy housing (such as dual- and tri-occupancy housing)
- terraces and townhouses
- apartments (up to three storeys).
How will the Missing Middle Housing Reforms address housing needs?
Filling the gap is key to creating a more compact and efficient city, that is liveable and sustainable and offers housing choice.
By allowing more and different types of homes across Canberra, the Missing Middle housing reforms will:
- Provide more housing choices for Canberrans including opportunities for multi-generational living, to age in place, and first home buyers
- Remove barriers to make it easier for people to build and purchase different types of homes
- Allow people to live in the communities they love with housing that meets their needs at different life stages
- Revitalise our older suburbs by adding new homes making a positive contribution to the street and suburb
- Limit urban sprawl and increase the availability of land and housing in our existing urban footprint
- Support vibrant and walkable neighbourhoods with more homes close to shops, schools and public transport.
Missing Middle Housing map
What are the Missing Middle Housing reforms?
The Missing Middle Housing Reforms have now been approved and will commence on 1 July 2026 following passage through the Legislative Assembly. The reforms include two key components:
- The Missing Middle Housing Design Guide which will provide good practice guidance for creating well-designed homes that respect local character and contribute positively to our streets and neighbourhoods.
- Changes to the Territory Plan to remove barriers in the planning system and allow more housing options in RZ1 and RZ2 areas. These changes will make it easier to build well-designed, sustainable homes in our existing suburbs. From 1 July 2026, missing middle housing is permitted across RZ1 and RZ2 residential zones, significantly increasing the amount of land where low-rise, medium density housing can be delivered.
These reforms are supported by broader ACT Government measures to improve housing supply and access, including expanded stamp duty exemptions from 1 July 2026, time-limited remissions of lease variation charges for missing middle developments, and initiatives to support faster and more cost‑effective delivery of new housing.
Missing Middle Housing Design Guide
To guide the development of new housing, we have created the Missing Middle Housing Design Guide (MMHDG) – a blueprint for creating well-designed homes that contribute positively to our streets and fit seamlessly into our suburbs.
Design guides help us create better buildings and public spaces for the community. The MMHDG will assist design professionals, builders and landowners in achieving good design for missing middle housing projects.
Addressing a variety of missing middle housing types, the MMHDG shows what good design outcomes look like and advocates for innovative approaches to development. The design guide has a focus on encouraging missing middle housing types of a human-scale that can be delivered over time, protecting street character and trees, and making sure that denser housing does not unreasonably impact on existing residents and neighbours.
The MMHDG will operate alongside new Territory Plan provisions, providing clear and enforceable design requirements to support well-designed outcomes in established suburbs.
Missing Middle Major Plan Amendment to the Territory Plan
The ACT Government has introduced changes to planning rules through a Major Plan Amendment to the Territory Plan. The Amendment was approved in May 2026 and has passed the Legislative Assembly, with changes commencing on 1 July 2026.
Currently most residential land in the ACT is zoned as RZ1 Suburban Zone which mainly consists of single dwelling houses. There is a small amount of residential land zoned as RZ2, and even less zoned as RZ3, RZ4 and RZ5, where higher density and taller buildings can be built. Much of this land has already been developed and is not yet of an age or condition where it is ready for redevelopment.
This means that, to create more housing in our city, we must consider the rules of development for existing RZ1 land.
In response the updated Territory Plan now enables missing middle housing in RZ1 and expands opportunities in RZ2, increasing housing choice across the majority of residential land in Canberra. Housing options include low-rise developments such as duplexes, triplexes, terrace homes, townhouses and low-rise apartments of up to two storeys in RZ1 and three storeys in RZ2.
These changes remove barriers to building missing middle housing and support the delivery of well-designed, sustainable and comfortable homes in existing suburbs.
Supporting delivery of missing middle housing
Lease Variation Charge (LVC) reduction
To support the delivery of missing middle housing, the ACT Government will introduce a time-limited 50% reduction in Lease Variation Charge (LVC) for eligible developments in RZ1 and RZ2.
LVC is a charge applied when additional development rights are granted, such as building more dwellings or subdividing blocks. Reducing LVC lowers overall development costs.
The remission applies to smaller-scale residential developments allowed in RZ1 and RZ2 zones (i.e. missing middle) where the lease needs to be changed to support unit titling or increasing dwellings on the existing lease.
The remission will apply to developments that pay or defer their LVC on or after 10 June 2026, receive development approval before 30 June 2029, and complete construction by 31 December 2030.
Canberra House Pattern Book
The ACT Government will invest $1 million over two years from 2026–27 to deliver a Canberra House Pattern Book. The Pattern Book will provide a collection of pre-approved, architect-designed plans for missing middle housing including dual occupancy, tri-occupancy, townhouse and terrace homes. .
The Pattern Book will contain designs and guidelines to support the selection, siting, and construction of more high-quality missing middle housing. The patterns will be adaptable for various sites and neighbourhood settings, and be designed to meet the needs of various sectors of the community.
These designs will help reduce design costs, streamline approvals and provide greater certainty for homeowners, builders and developers.
The Pattern Book will be available for use by homeowners, builders and developers, supporting a range of missing middle housing projects in established suburbs.
Read more on the community consultation that informed the MMHDG and the draft Major Plan Amendment on the Missing middle YourSay page.
