We’re opening doors to well-designed, quality homes
We’re reforming our planning system to ensure that Victorians are opening doors to more townhouses and apartments that will stand the test of time for quality, design, aesthetics, sustainability and cost.
Supporting high-quality home design
Great Design Fast Track approval
The Great Design Fast Track (GDFT) is a new planning approval pathway that rewards well-designed apartments and townhouses.
GDFT is available for apartment and townhouse proposals that are two to eight storeys in height with eight or more homes. Projects must meet seven design principles to qualify for the pathway, ensuring they are high-quality, long-lasting and good value for residents.
Projects must demonstrate a higher level of sustainability than typical new homes– achieving an average 8-star rating on the Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) for apartments and 7.5 stars for townhouses.
They also need to consider well thought out shared areas, green space and landscaping, and cater to the needs of different kinds of households.
The Office of the Victorian Government Architect (OVGA) will review applications to confirm they meet these high standards.
For more information, answers to frequently asked questions, and to see the design principles, visit Great Design Fast Track.
State Design Book
To help deliver the best homes possible, we have released a State Design Book to show the community, designers and builders a diverse range of homes that are high quality in design, liveability and sustainability.
The first part of the book contains the seven design principles used to determine eligibility for the GDFT pathway. The second part of the book showcases buildings loved by our community, featuring 28 community-nominated designs. The third part is still under development, and will showcase innovative ideas from design and architecture university students.
Learn more about the (open in new window).
New ‘Deemed to comply’ standards for townhouses and apartments
Two new sets of planning rules, the ‘Townhouse and Low-Rise Code’ and the ‘Mid-Rise Code’ now codify standards that are important to make a good home; such as setbacks, tree coverage, well-sized bedrooms, decent sunlight and minimising overshadowing and onlooking for neighbours.
This streamlined assessment pathway is called ‘Deemed to Comply‘ residential standards. It means council planners can quickly approve permits for townhouses and apartment buildings up to six storeys that meet the standards – and they‘ll only assess aspects of a permit that don’t comply with those standards.
To learn more visit Introducing the Mid-Rise Code (open in new window).
Future Homes architectural design program
Future Homes offers a streamlined planning pathway for three storey apartment developments using competition winning architectural designs on eligible sites across Victoria.
For a reduced cost of $150, developers can purchase an exemplar design which includes:
- a full package of developed architectural designs, at a town planning level of resolution, and
- access to the Future Homes streamlined planning process.
There are currently four exemplar designs that have been carefully developed and tested by a team of industry professionals to ensure they provide high quality, liveable and sustainable housing in the areas where people want to live.
See the eligible locations and the exemplar designs at Future Homes(opens in a new window)
Learn more about eligibility for the program and the streamlined planning process at Future Homes streamlined planning process(opens in a new window)
Better design standards for apartments
We introduced the new ‘Mid-Rise Code’ to strengthen Victoria’s apartment design standards, ensuring:
- apartment buildings provide green open space for residents
- apartments include well-sized bedrooms, living rooms, and balconies, and enough storage space
- apartments get plenty of fresh air and sunlight
- new buildings are surrounded by trees, which make streets greener and cooler, and provide privacy for residents and neighbours
- streets and spaces surrounding apartment buildings are not windy and remain safe and pleasant.
Our clear new standards will ensure appealing, comfortable, sustainable, and fit-for-purpose homes. Stronger design standards will mean more comfortable and sustainable apartments, better accessibility and more functional internal spaces and storage.
Learn more about our strong new standards for apartments in Victoria at Introducing the Mid-Rise Code (open in new window).
Supporting building practitioners and professionals
Continuing Professional Development
We’re introducing mandatory Continuing Professional Development (CPD) to support builders and plumbers to keep up to date with their skills.
Mandatory CPD will ensure practitioners maintain contemporary skills and knowledge throughout their careers to keep pace with regulatory reforms, technological innovations and evolving construction standards.
This is expected to raise professional standards – strengthening community confidence, safety, and quality outcomes across the building and plumbing sectors. This will reduce risks of non‑compliant work, and support better long‑term outcomes for homeowners and the community.
The CPD framework strikes a balance between mandatory learning areas where ongoing knowledge is essential, and flexible, accessible delivery for practitioners. This ensures that identified knowledge or skills gaps can be targeted across the building and plumbing sectors, while providing practitioners flexibility to choose their own activities or participate in approved CPD programs.
To learn more, visit Continuing Professional Development for Builders and Plumbers | Engage Victoria
Supporting plumbing safety and compliance
We’re listening to the plumbing industry on a range of areas where changing industry dynamics and advances in technology need a regulatory response.
One example is for complex plumbing work where increased oversight of the design and installation of complex plumbing systems in higher-risk settings is required to ensure that this is done safely and compliantly.
Other areas for reform include consideration of the skills and competencies required across the range of main class, restricted and specialist plumbers to ensure these align to the new technologies on the market – such as heat pumps.
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