× Please note:
PPARS reports have been updated with new dashboards released. New report dashboards are available.
The December 2022 and Q2 22/23 reports are the final reports to be generated in the legacy format. Please contact the Planning Support team with any concerns regarding the new format.
Legacy reports will be removed in the coming months.

PPARs reports are subject to change as data is submitted by responsible authorities. Data sourced from PPARs should reference the report 'generated date' and statement of data accuracy which notes if any responsible authorities data is missing.

PPARs applies data checks in the form of 'business rules' to all data submitted for consistency. The validity of data relies on responsible authority systems, data entry and accurate submissions to PPARs.

This is the sixteenth annual report on planning permit activity in Victoria. A detailed summary of statistical information for the 2018-19 financial year, the data is provided by the 79 local government authorities, the Minister for Planning and the Victorian Civil and Administration Tribunal. The information in this annual report includes:

  • the number of permit applications received and decided
  • the number of permit applications reviewed at VCAT
  • the estimated cost of works for permits issued
  • the value of fees for applications received
  • the time to process permits and the number processed within sixty days
  • the number of permits that required further information requests, public notice, referral or involved submissions
  • the number of permits by category
  • changes in land use
  • comparison information with previous years and across schemes.

These annual reports cover information for the state aggregated and can be presented at four levels:

  • state
  • metropolitan Melbourne and rural/regional Victoria
  • three metropolitan and three rural/regional subregions
  • the 82 individual planning schemes.

Overview of Planning Permit Activity in Victoria in 2021-22

For the 2021-22 year

  • 51,719 applications were received, a decrease of 2.0% on 2020-21
  • 49,978 applications were decided, a decrease of 0.2% on 2020-21
  • the estimated cost of works for planning permits issued was $27.76 billion, an increase of 3.9% on 2020-21
  • 61.4% of applications were decided within sixty days, a decrease of 8.6% on 2020-21
  • 76.5% of VicSmart applications were decided within ten business days, a decrease of 4.5% on 2020-21
  • permits issued for new dwellings provided for an estimated increase of 25,681 new dwellings
  • permits issued for subdivision provided for an estimated 76,630 new lots
  • 17.2% of permits issued involved a change in land use; most of these to a residential use.

Previous annual reports

Annual activity reports have been published annually since 2004. In 2012, the Department moved to solely online publication of the data.

Report links will open the latest generated report; previous reports can be viewed by using the date selectors.

Reports produced in 2011 and prior are available to view or download in PDF format from the PPARS website.

More Information

If you have any questions or need further information, get in touch via the contact details below.

Page last updated: 22/07/22