The Housing Industry Association (HIA) has welcomed the Victorian government’s announcement of a 12-month stamp duty reduction for off-the-plan units, townhouses and apartments, as well as planning reforms to boost housing supply.
HIA Executive Director for Victoria, Keith Ryan, praised the initiatives as steps in the right direction.
“Stamp duty is an inefficient and ineffective tax that drives up the cost of housing, and a reduction in this burden is a step in the right direction to boost housing supply,” Ryan said.
The announcement includes an expansion of ‘activity centres’ where state-led planning controls will streamline approvals for medium density housing.
Ryan noted the potential benefits of this expansion.
“Expanding these activity centres to more areas will make it easier for developers to identify suitable locations for projects and plan out approaches to precinct designs closer to consumers’ existing homes, workplaces and family members,” he said.
However, Ryan cautioned that the government needs to ensure these policies support all forms of housing, not just high-rise developments.
He referred to the Victorian government’s Housing Statement released last year, which set a target of building 800,000 homes in ten years.
“To achieve this target all types of housing are needed including medium density and greenfield housing,” Ryan emphasised.
The HIA executive highlighted ongoing challenges facing the industry in boosting housing supply. These include infrastructure delivery costs, regulatory changes, outdated home building contract laws, and insurance issues.
While praising the announced reforms as an important step forward, Ryan stressed that further targeted measures are needed.
“Today’s announcement of planning and tax reform is an important step forward to increase housing supply, though further targeted reforms are needed to ensure builders can deliver these much-needed homes for Victorians,” he concluded.