The Victorian Parliament, through the Legislative Assembly Environment and Planning Committee, has released its final report on the supply of homes in regional Victoria, confirming what the REIV and regional agents have long warned: housing supply across regional communities is not keeping pace with demand. The report highlights escalating land and construction costs, limited housing diversity, slow infrastructure delivery and planning delays as significant constraints, echoing key issues raised by the REIV. Notably, the Committee acknowledges widespread industry concern, including a direct citation of the REIV, that Victoria’s cumulative property taxes, levies, and duties are affecting the feasibility of development and rental market supply.
The REIV’s submission, informed by extensive consultation with regional members, was prominently referenced throughout the report. More than three-quarters of regional agents identified property taxation as the most significant barrier to new housing, with high development costs and complex planning processes the next biggest impediments. The REIV also supplied market data illustrating a 40–50 per cent surge in regional property prices over the past five years and an increasingly tight rental market. The report draws on this evidence to support its findings that supply shortages, low rental vacancy rates and rising operating costs are intensifying affordability pressures for buyers, renters and developers in regional Victoria.
While the Committee stops short of recommending major tax reform, it recognises the concerns raised by the REIV, noting industry calls for a reassessment of land tax, vacant residential land tax and the Windfall Gains Tax due to their cumulative impacts on housing supply. The REIV maintains that meaningful progress on regional housing requires a coordinated approach across taxation, planning and infrastructure delivery. The REIV will continue to advocate for tax reform that stimulates improves investor confidence and ensures and improves investor confidence and ensures regional Victoria has the homes it needs to flourish.
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