Design actions for better housing

How to tackle Australia’s ongoing housing crisis? We’re moving beyond policy talk to deliver five design-led strategies for genuine, lasting affordability. Download the paper.

Australia’s housing system is at breaking point. Home ownership is slipping out of reach for too many, while renters are left with sub-par living conditions such as poor insulation, inefficient heating and cooling, and inadequate maintenance that threaten wellbeing and eat away at incomes. While policy tweaks and promises come and go, we know it’s time for a forward, design-led rethink.

Great design goes beyond the façade. It shapes places that change lives for the better. Done well, design cuts through complexity. It unlocks genuine affordability and delivers the housing quality Australians deserve.

That’s why, in late 2025, we brought together an ambitious group of government, academia, housing providers and developers to explore this issue in depth. The brief? Clear away the clutter and focus on practical action. How can design — real, on-the-ground expertise — help fix Australian housing right now?

And this week, we’ve launched a strategic new paper developed from the outcomes of that discussion, that gets straight to the point. Showcased for the first time at this year’s Sydney Summit, the paper sets out five sharp (and simple) strategies where design drives real results for affordability, quality, and community:

• Neighbourhoods matter: housing close to key amenities underpins the convenience, practicality and enjoyment of everyday life 
• Great adaptations: modifying or repurposing existing buildings can get more housing on the market faster 
• Sharing is caring: High-quality shared spaces in higher-density housing means less space is needed for individual dwellings
• Build less, give more: simpler detailing, ​“open housing” and prefabrication are just some of the ways we can build more, with less 
• Teamwork makes the dream work: to make the (simple) changes we need, we need better understanding, dialogue and collaboration between policymakers, developers and builders, designers, end users and communities.

We’ve developed grounded, actionable solutions that turn ambition into progress. The future of Australian housing depends on what we design together, now. Dive into the detail. 

Download the full paper by filling in the form below.