ACT government outlines housing plans

With a growing population in the territory, set to reach 500,000 by the end of this decade, one of the government’s focuses in this year’s budget was on housing supply.

The 2022 ACT budget, released in February, and tabled on Tuesday (2 August) sets out the government’s plan for more land to be available over the next five years, steps towards more investments for build-to-rent schemes, as well as a $30-million boost towards its public housing supply.

Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the budget will “improve affordability” and supply as population growth in the territory had placed “pressure on the local housing market”.

“From targeted stamp duty cuts through to the construction of hundreds of new public housing dwellings – we are taking further steps to ensure Canberrans have access to safe and secure homes,” Mr Barr said.

Under the housing package, the government is planning for an increase of around 30,000 dwellings in the ACT over the next five years. This will “increase the total housing supply in Canberra from around 180,000 dwellings to around 210,000 dwellings”.

It forms part of the government’s 2022 Indicative Land Release Program (ILRP) that includes 16,417 additional residential blocks for release, 4,743 single dwellings and 11,674 lots for multi-unit complexes.

Minister for Planning and Land Management, Mick Gentleman, said the ILRP will assist the government in “investigating the viability of and preparing land” for sale over the next five years.

For example, land may be set aside as nature reserve to protect a vulnerable species; contamination, ground stability or desired planning outcomes may make development too costly to be viable.

The build-to-rent concept is a multi-unit development, where the residential dwellings are retained by one owner, and rented out long-term usually 15 to 20 years rather than being sold.

As the dwellings are not intended to be individually sold, the individual dwellings are not required to be unit titled, which reduces the property tax and supports a viable and long-term rental market.

“We’re committed to ensuring every Canberran has a place to call home and this package of budget initiatives represents further progress toward that goal,” Mr Gentleman said.

The government also hopes its build-to-rent scheme will add 5,000 rental dwellings to the 50,000 homes currently leased in the capital.

The government has committed to pilot a Build-to-Rent scheme with an affordable rental component through a market process and will outline the release of additional sites for large-scale build-to-rent projects in the ILRP.

Further, an extra $30 million for public housing growth and renewal projects has been announced.

The Growing and Renewing Public Housing program, adds a further 140 new public housing dwellings to deliver the 400 additional public housing dwellings previously outlined, plus commits $57.3 million towards public housing repairs and maintenance.

Minister for Housing and Suburban Development, Yvette Berry, said the government was “particularly focused” on helping low to moderate income households have access to safe, secure and affordable housing.

“We are continuing to work towards the delivery of 600 affordable rental homes by 2025-26, working to increase the supply of properties in the market and improving access to housing for vulnerable members of our community,” Ms Berry said.

[Related: Budget 2022-23 released: What you need to know]