GENERAL NEWS
VICTORIA’S new Allan government is introducing legislation to the Victorian Parliament this week to expand its tax of vacant residential land across the state...
Through the expanded tax the government is hoping to incentivise owners to rent out empty homes or develop long-term vacant land, to help...
Victorian treasurer, Tim Pallas, announced the proposed tax policy at a Property Council of Australia conference on Tuesday.
According to government sources who could not speak publicly, Australian Property Journal has learned that Premier Jacinta Allan and the Assistant Treasurer knew nothing about...
One government source told APJ, that cabinet ministers also only learned of the new proposed tax from media reports...
“Nothing is more important than finding a place to call home, that you can afford, close to the work, services or community you rely on,” said Tim Pallas...
“We know the best thing you can do to make homes more affordable is supply more of them – this is all about freeing up empty houses for rent and vacant land for...
The changes will see the Vacant Residential Land Tax (VRLT), which currently is only applied to empty residential properties in Melbourne’s inner and middle suburbs for...
The tax is currently charged at 1% of the total property value, including buildings on the site, with the tax collecting around $6 million each year...
The government claims this move will encourage owners of unoccupied homes in Melbourne’s outer suburbs and regional Victoria to make these dwellings available for...
However, the changes won’t commence until 2025, with the period that properties can be deemed vacant to start on 1 January 2024...
Existing exemptions will also continue to apply across the whole state, including to holiday homes, properties recently acquired or regularly occupied for...
The changes will also discourage long-term landbanking, with the tax to apply to residential land that has been undeveloped for more than five years in...
As well as closing an existing loophole where VRLT did not apply to unimproved land, which was appropriate for residential development...
“We can’t afford really to have vacant land in metropolitan Melbourne sitting idle,” said Pallas at the conference...
With residential land undeveloped for more than five years in established areas of Melbourne to be liable, the changes will apply to an estimated...
The legislation will prohibit unfair apportioning of land tax and windfall gains tax burdens to purchasers through property transfers...
Meanwhile, over the last fortnight, the Victorian government has received more than 100 enquiries from industry partners looking to be part of...
The new homes are set to be built under the state government’s expanded Development Facilitation Program (DFP), with the expansion announced as part of...
“We won’t waste a minute getting on with our housing reforms – we’ve given industry the certainty they deserve, now more than 100 partners have told...
The delivery of the new homes will be enabled by the newly streamlined planning process for medium to high density residential developments that meet the...
“We’re getting on with the job of boosting housing supply – making sure good decisions are made faster with a planning system that works to build more...