Tasmania has once again been named the worst performing state when it comes to planning approvals.
 
The Property Council of Australia's 2015 Development Assessment Report Card rated Tasmania with an overall score of 5.6, the lowest it has scored in the previous two assessment reports by the group.
 
New South Wales has a rate of 5.9, while Western Australia and the Northern Territory were found to be the best performing jurisdictions.
                            
The report also slammed the sluggish progress of the state’s introduction of new planning schemes, adding that the planning systems are "overly litigious", reports the ABC Online.
 
The Property Council, which represents developers, builders and real estate agents in the country, said that the introduction of a single house code was flawed in Tasmania and the state fails to have a sufficient strategic policy direction.
 
"The reason we rank last is because planning is so complicated. And when you look at where Tasmania has come from, the reform steps that we need to take are extremely significant, and are going to take an extended period of time,” the group's Tasmanian executive director, Brian Wightman, was quoted as saying by the ABC.
 
Despite the negative results for Tasmania, the report believes the numbers will improve in the future due to the State Government's Planning Reform Taskforce.
 
"Poor planning and antiquated development assessment processes significantly drive up the price of housing and commercial projects," the Property Council chief executive Ken Morrison was quoted as saying.
 
"The only really effective way to make housing more affordable is to build more homes, build them faster and at lower cost."
 

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