Six new staff will join the ACT Planning and Land Authority to help process a growing number of development applications more quickly.
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The Master Builders Association of the ACT has welcomed the move, but criticised the territory government's decision to fund the additional staff by increasing fees and charges on the building sector.
Planning Minister Mick Gentleman said with Canberra's population growing by more than 8000 per year and urban renewal under way around town centres and transport corridors, there had been a surge in development applications.
There were a record 1216 new project applications lodged in 2017-18, and 989 minor applications for single dwellings, additions and alterations to existing residences.
"We are also seeing an increase in applications relating to complex, large-scale developments that need to be carefully assessed for issues like solar access, traffic and parking," Mr Gentleman said in a pre-budget announcement.
"A larger DA assessment team will help ensure these developments are liveable and consistent with the character of the neighbourhoods where they will be built."
To fund the staff, Mr Gentleman said an increase of $292 would be applied to applications for single dwellings, while fees for developments with costs over $1 million would increase by 20 per cent.
"The development industry has flagged its support for improved resourcing to speed up processing times for applications," he said.
Master Builders Association ACT chief executive Michael Hopkins welcomed the new staff, but not the method used to fund them.
"For the last 12 months, development assessment timeframes have been taking longer and longer, and now regularly exceed the statutory timeframes that the ACT Planning and Land Authority is required to meet by law," Mr Hopkins said.
"The [association] is disappointed that the ACT government has decided to fund the additional staff by increasing fees and charges on the sector. Real estate taxes, including land tax, stamp duty and rates already account for 49.5 per cent of the territory's tax take, making the ACT property and construction sector the second-highest taxed of any state or territory in Australia."
