Perth Councils and Developers Scramble to Fix Duplicate Image Problem Plaguing Property Listings This Week

Perth's property sector hit a bureaucratic snag this week as duplicate images embedded in development applications and council planning portals created processing delays across at least three local government areas. The problem — photographs appearing multiple times, or being attached to the wrong property records — has slowed assessment timelines at a moment when the city can least afford it, with the WA Labor government under pressure to accelerate housing approvals amid a sustained population surge driven by immigration and AUKUS-related workforce growth.

The City of Stirling confirmed it is among the affected councils, with its online Development Applications portal showing repeat attachments on submissions lodged during the last week of June 2026. The glitch has forced planning officers to manually review uploaded files rather than relying on the automated document-sorting system the council adopted in late 2024. The City of Swan is dealing with a similar issue, particularly on applications tied to land parcels along the Metronet Morley-Ellenbrook Line corridor, where development interest has intensified ahead of the line's expected 2027 opening.

Why It Matters Now

Timing is the real problem. WA's housing market is running hot. The Real Estate Institute of Western Australia reported a median house price in Perth of $792,000 as of May 2026, and rental vacancy rates have remained below one percent for more than eighteen months. Developers cannot afford delays. A stuck development application — even one stalled for a week because a planning officer is manually cross-checking photographs — can push settlement dates back and trigger contract penalties. For buyers already stretched, that adds financial strain on top of an already punishing market.

The duplicate image issue appears to stem from a batch processing error introduced through a software update rolled out across several councils via the State Government's PlanningWA online lodgement platform in mid-June. The Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage manages that platform. The department has not yet issued a public advisory about the fault, though council staff in Stirling and Swan have been in direct contact with its technical support team since at least Monday this week.

Private sector operators are feeling it too. Settlement agents working out of the Hay Street and St Georges Terrace corridors in the Perth CBD say the image duplication problem is not limited to council portals. Several real estate agencies using third-party property management software have reported that listing images uploaded to platforms such as realestate.com.au and Domain are either duplicating or failing to display correctly — a separate but related workflow headache that is muddying buyer research at open home season.

What the Fix Looks Like

For developers and applicants with active submissions, the practical advice from planning consultants this week is straightforward: log back into the PlanningWA portal and manually audit every document attached to your application. If duplicate images appear, delete the extras and re-upload a single, clearly labelled file. Do not assume the system will self-correct. Several applicants who waited for an automated resolution have seen their assessment clock paused, which in some local government areas triggers a formal extension under the Planning and Development Act 2005 — adding weeks to an already stretched timeline.

Agencies operating under the Residential Design Codes — the state-wide R-codes that govern density and setbacks — should pay particular attention to site plan images, which are the most commonly duplicated file type in the current error pattern, according to planning staff the Daily Perth spoke with this week.

The City of Stirling says it is manually clearing the backlog and expects to have affected applications back on track by July 11. The City of Swan has not provided a resolution date. The Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage is understood to be testing a patched version of the PlanningWA upload module, though no formal patch deployment date has been confirmed publicly.

For property buyers using private listing portals, the fix is simpler: contact the listing agent directly if images appear scrambled or repeated, and request a corrected listing or a PDF brochure. With Perth's inventory still tight — particularly in the inner-northern suburbs between Inglewood and Balcatta — buyers who hesitate while waiting for a clean listing risk missing the property entirely.