Land to be freed up for thousands of new homes on Melbourne’s outskirts

The latest initiative comes after alleged leaks about the government’s upcoming housing policy announcements, including rent reform and changes to building regulations to allow two houses to be built on the same block.

The media schedule was released on social media by Liberal MP James Newbury, who on Sunday led crowds in Brighton to chant “shame, premier, shame” after the government included the coastal suburb in its latest list of high-density activity zones.

“The Liberal MP for Brighton is doing an excellent job of promoting our plan to increase the number of homes and opportunities and has accepted our invitation to do so again,” a spokesman for the Allan government said late on Tuesday.

“We thank him for that.”

The X schedule says the government will announce the Victorian Planning Authority’s next year of work on Wednesday, with two homes on the site discussed on Thursday, regional housing on Friday and tenancy reform on Saturday.

Earlier this year Age revealed that the government is considering further support for tenants and that planning reforms will consider apartment buildings on sites of a certain size.

Newbury said the chart was provided by someone from the Australian Labor Party.

“The Labor Party stood up to (Prime Minister) Jacinta Allan in what the Prime Minister intended would be the biggest test of her career,” he said.

“This shows that she has already failed to convince her team.”

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The Urban Institute of Australia said at least 18,000 lots needed to be released into the capital market each year to meet housing targets for new suburban areas and regional Victoria.

“UDIA is calling for greater certainty regarding the supply of land to new areas of Melbourne,” the statement said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Allan confirmed her government would consider introducing a universal infrastructure charge for developers as part of its housing reform package.

The new system, which will be trialled in the first 10 so-called activity hubs, will help pay for schools, parks and public transport where new housing is being built, not just in the outer suburbs.

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Opposition housing affordability spokesman Evan Mulholland said on Tuesday the revised developer contribution scheme was an expanded levy that would put house prices “even more unaffordable for all Victorians”.

“Our growth regions lack adequate infrastructure,” Mulholland said.

“Hundreds of millions of dollars have been held up in the coffers on Spring Street instead of being delivered to these communities. Jacinta Allan’s idea is to take this model and spread it across the state. We know it will be a failure.”

Allan on Tuesday denied the overhaul was aimed at supporting Victoria’s budget.

She ruled out using funds to derail major projects and said her desire is for a simpler, fairer and statewide infrastructure contribution scheme.

“We recognize that as we build more homes, the demand for these services, for the infrastructure that makes communities great places to live, increases,” Allan said.

“The state overwhelmingly makes this contribution. But it’s only fair that we do our part, especially for those developers who also benefit somewhat from developments in these areas.”

The business and investment case for the Suburban Rail Loop forecast that a third of the cost of the project’s $35 billion first phase, from Cheltenham to Box Hill, would come from value additions.

But the project has not yet specified which models it will use. The document flagged possible measures such as increases in commercial stamp duty, windfall taxes and congestion charges in areas around each train station. Some of them are projected to begin in 2025.

The Allan Government this week named the first 25 of 50 new activity centers at transport hubs across the state, where the state will take the lead in planning to control and encourage higher density housing. This is more than 10 already announced in August.

Stamp duty relief for off-construction apartments and townhouses will reduce the tax to up to a quarter of its typical cost for buyers purchasing properties that are not yet under construction.

Planning and Suburbs Minister Sonia Kilkenny said the debate over where to build new homes had been one-sided for too long.

“In the long term, it’s about striking the right balance between development on the outskirts of the city and development in the inner city.”

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