The Crisafulli government is reforming Queensland’s foreign acquirer duty and providing land tax foreign surcharge relief in a bid to boost housing supply.
The Queensland government has announced that it is streamlining and simplifying the relief process for additional foreign acquirer duty and land tax foreign surcharge.
The changes, which came into effect on Monday (15 December), will streamline and update foreign surcharge relief arrangements.
These include:
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Reducing the number of dwellings required to qualify for relief from 50 to 20.
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Broadening the consideration of corporate groups and the contributions of group entities in recognition of contemporary structures commonly used in property development and other corporate arrangements.
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Introducing a pre-approval process for residential developers.
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Setting clear service standards for processing applications (30 days for renewals, 60 days for new applicants).
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Providing clearer relief criteria.
These reforms aim to speed up approvals, encourage investment, and increase housing availability for Queenslanders.
According to the Crisafulli government, the changes will “increase the flow of capital to boost housing supply, support investor certainty and strengthen Queensland’s position as a competitive destination for investment”.
Treasurer and Minister for Home Ownership David Janetzki said the important reforms would help drive additional housing supply and affordability for Queensland buyers and renters.
“The Crisafulli Government is continuing to take action that will increase housing supply to deliver more homes for Queenslanders,” Treasurer Janetzki said.
“We are ensuring Queensland remains a competitive and attractive destination for development and investment through delivering a clear message that Queensland is open for business.”
The move has been welcomed by property bodies, including the Property Council of Australia. The group’s executive director of Queensland, Jess Caire, suggested that, since the foreign tax regime was introduced in 2016, Queensland has “missed out” on its fair share of patient capital equating to 32,872 lost dwellings valued at $17.8 billion.
“Today’s announcement shows not only leadership from the Government but a commitment to ensuring policy settings mean Queensland is open for business,” Caire said.
“The implementation of these taxes and charges, particularly those dubbed as ‘foreign’ have strangled new housing supply, seen Queensland miss out on economic growth and hurt Queenslanders by eroding the very tax base the Government needs to generate revenue.
“Most alarmingly, the international taxpayers that have borne the brunt of these taxes are not foreign buyers looking to crowd Queenslanders out of housing but are in fact Australian-based developers and owners who build the houses Queensland needs.”
Urban Development Institute of Australia Queensland CEO Kirsty Chessher-Brown said the practical and pragmatic changes to settings and processes would boost housing supply and ultimately get homes to market sooner.
“These reforms to foreign surcharge relief follow sustained industry calls for a more pragmatic approach to assessments and decisions which will ultimately improve housing delivery for Queenslanders,” Chessher-Brown said.
“A streamlined system, which offers greater levels of certainty prior to land acquisition is critically important to attracting investment to our state, and in the end, boosting housing supply for the Queensland community.
“Increasingly, the property development sector is needing to seek global capital to support the delivery of housing and jobs across the State, but uncertainty and delays ultimately adds costs for new homebuyers.”
Similarly, the Housing Industry Association (HIA) has welcomed the move, stating that they are “a positive step toward restoring Queensland’s competitiveness and supporting the delivery of more housing for local buyers and renters”.
HIA chief economist Tim Reardon commented: “Queensland needs more foreign investment in new home building, not less.
“By streamlining relief arrangements and expanding access criteria for foreign investor surcharge exemptions, the Government is sending a clear message that Queensland is once again opening up for investment that leads to housing delivery.
“Foreign investors do not compete with Australians to purchase existing homes. Foreign investors have been prohibited from buying established homes since 1975. The policies announced this week only relate to the construction of new homes.
“Queensland has seen the volume of new apartment commencements collapse as foreign investors shifted to building new homes in other countries without these punitive taxes.
“This has been the worst own-goal housing policy.
“One in ten new detached homes are built by an overseas-owned building company. Penalising these businesses from building homes in Queensland has made the shortage of housing stock worse, adding additional pressure to public housing stock.
“Removing unnecessary barriers that discourage investment in new housing is essential if supply is to respond to demand.
“This is not about favouring one type of investor over another. It is about ensuring that projects which deliver homes for Queenslanders are not held back by unnecessary regulatory barriers.”
[Related: ‘Urgent’ reforms needed to fix housing crisis: CBA]
