CANBERRA, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Legislative Assembly passed new planning reforms to speed up housing approvals and increase housing supply in Canberra, the territory government announced on Wednesday.

The changes will simplify planning and leasing processes for smaller-scale housing developments, including townhouses, duplexes, terraces and secondary residences.

Under the reforms, assessment and approval timeframes for smaller-scale subdivisions and land consolidations will be reduced from 60 days to 30-45 working days.

Homeowners will also be automatically entitled to build secondary residences, such as granny flats, without requiring a Crown lease variation.

Minor lease variations, including changes to permitted dwelling numbers, will be processed through a streamlined pathway, reducing assessment times to 10 days.

ACT Minister for Planning and Sustainable Development Chris Steel said the reforms would make the planning process simpler and help deliver more housing choices for Canberra residents.

The reforms form part of the ACT government's broader housing strategy, which aims to enable the construction of 30,000 new homes by 2030.