Research and advocacy for housing abundance.
YIMBY Melbourne produces rigorous research that creates lasting policy change. Our local advocacy has helped get thousands of homes built, and our state-level policy work has helped unlock more than a million more.
The very latest
Correcting The Age on Activity Centres
The Age’s 3D renders of the Activity Centres have more in common with Minecraft than reality. Here, we use Thornbury’s High Street to show how the planning controls actually work.
Our Impact
1.6M+
Potential New Homes Unlocked
Since 2023, according to Grattan Institute analysis
30+
Policy Reports & Submissions
Generating real, actionable policy change across Victoria
250+
Media Features
Across major Australian outlets, reaching millions of voters
Our releases
Australian Zoning Atlas
The Australian Zoning Atlas is the first ever nation-wide map that classifies and compares residential planning controls across Australia.
Three-quarters of the residential land in Australia’s capital cities is under highly restrictive zoning
Three-quarters of the residential land in Australia’s capital cities is under highly restrictive zoning, the Australian Zoning Atlas finds.
Federal Homes for Australia plan puts planning reform where it belongs: at the centre
Abundant Housing Network Australia welcomes the Commonwealth Government’s National Plan, and calls on all states to match or exceed Victoria’s ambition on planning reform.
In the media
“Legacy planning shibboleths are being upended almost daily in Victoria and NSW as state governments override commonly held beliefs, and the vocal objections of local residents, to permit more housing. The YIMBY movements in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, and Canberra are a big part of that story.”
Featured research
Correcting The Age on Activity Centres
The Age’s 3D renders of the Activity Centres have more in common with Minecraft than reality. Here, we use Thornbury’s High Street to show how the planning controls actually work.
Australian Zoning Atlas
The Australian Zoning Atlas is the first ever nation-wide map that classifies and compares residential planning controls across Australia.
Inquiry into Intergenerational Housing Inequity
Current planning systems are a major driver of spatial and intergenerational inequity in Australia. These systems often enforce artificial monopolies that benefit existing property owners at the expense of renters and first-home buyers.
Inquiry into Productivity in Australia
Our position is clear: the Abundant Housing Network Australia wholesale opposes the creation of a National Settlement Strategy. Such a strategy is flawed from first principles, and its proponents lack both evidence of its alleged benefits and viable methods for its implementation.
Who we are
YIMBY Melbourne produces evidence-based research that drives housing and land use policy reform.
Since our founding in 2023, we’ve grown from grassroots advocacy into a research institution with significant impact on policy and discourse.
In September of that year, our first report, Melbourne’s Missing Middle, proposed enabling six-storey, mixed-use development near transit — creating 1,992 high-amenity, walkable neighbourhoods.
Since then, land use and housing policy has progressed rapidly across Victoria. And we’ve continued to release major reports, appear at parliamentary inquiries, and operate at the cutting edge of Australian housing research. Our research and advocacy is cited regularly by MPs, journalists, and leading policy thinkers.
Key staff
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Jonathan O'Brien CEO -
Ethan Gilbert General Manager
YIMBY Melbourne is funded by members and donors, with major support from Coefficient Giving. We take no money from developers or the housing industry.