Victoria’s excessive tax and regulatory burden is leaving government as one of the few players able to get projects off the ground, the Property Council has warned, following Labor’s announcement to deliver 25,000 homes across metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria.
Property Council Group Executive Policy and Advocacy Matthew Kandelaars said that while investment in new housing was welcome, the announcement highlighted the urgent need to restore the viability of private housing development in Victoria.
“What a sad state of affairs that Victoria’s 32 new and increased housing taxes over the past 12 years mean that government is increasingly having to step in to deliver housing that is no longer viable for private investment,” he said.
“While unlocking government land for housing is welcome, we cannot rely on taxpayer-funded projects alone to solve Victoria’s housing shortage.
“The private sector has the capital, capacity and appetite to deliver more homes, but Victoria’s high taxes, rising costs and regulatory barriers are making too many projects financially unviable.
“Victoria doesn’t have a housing target problem it has a capital attraction and housing delivery problem.
“Government investment plays an important role, but it must be matched by meaningful tax and planning reform that gets private housing projects off the ground, starting with abolishing the investment-killing Absentee Owner Surcharge and Windfall Gains Tax.
“If we want to deliver 80,000 homes a year, we need to make Victoria a place where it’s viable to build them.”
