The ACT Government’s “missing middle reforms” aim to dramatically increase dwelling densities in established suburbs. In its current form, the reforms will result in fundamental changes to the character of Canberra’s suburbs.

Individually the changes might appear minor.  But when combined, they will result in:

• Large developments of town houses and unit complexes throughout residential areas
• Developments that occupy more of the available land and with tall walls built along and close to neighbours’ boundaries
• Existing residences being overshadowed by town houses and apartments
• A lot more cars parked in front dwellings and on the street
• Less garden and green space in front of new buildings, which will further erode streetscapes

The table below outlines the proposed changes for block in RZ1 zones. If you are interested you can read more and provide feedback about the Missing Middle Housing Reforms.

Proposed change	Impact on existing RZ1 residential blocks
Removing restriction on the size, number and type of dwellings that can built on RZ1 blocks	New town houses, units, and apartments will be allowed on blocks of all size. Previously this was limited to 2 house type dwellings on blocks over 800m2. Large blocks will no longer be limited to 2 dwellings – 3 or more houses will be allowed.
Allowing apartments in RZ1	Apartments with 3 stories (basement parking + 2 stories) will be allowed on residential blocks.
Changing the Subdivision Policy to make it easier to consolidate blocks	It will be much easier for developers to combine blocks to create large complexes of town house and apartments.
Increasing the height of the building envelope from 3.5m to 4m	New town houses, units and apartments will be noticeably taller near the boundaries of a block.
Reducing the secondary street frontage setback for multi-unit houses on corner blocks from 3m to 2m	New town houses, units and apartments on corner blocks will be built extremely close to one of the boundaries. There will be almost no landscaping between footpaths or public land and these buildings.
Eliminating the requirement for side setbacks in the primary building for multi-unit houses	New town houses, units and apartments will be built right up to the neighbour’s boundary. Combined with the change to the building envelope, this will result in 4m walls along the block boundaries.
Increasing the angle of the solar building envelope for multi-unit houses	New town houses, units and apartments will be allowed to significantly overshadow neighbouring blocks.
Reducing the planting area for multi-unit houses	New town houses, units and apartments will occupy more of the block and will have less garden and green space.
Reducing the number of required carparking spaces per dwelling from 2 to only 1	This will result in less off-street parking and much more parking on the street. The impact of this will be amplified when there is an increase in the number of dwellings per block.