Allan government to release swathes of land for new homes on city’s fringe
The Allan government is set to release huge plots of land for thousands of new homes in Melbourne’s outer north, west and southeast as it tries to fix the state’s housing crisis.
Victoria
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Space for thousands of new homes will be opened up on Melbourne’s fringe as the state government commits to the biggest rollout of land for housing in Victoria’s history.
The Allan government is set to release huge plots of land in the outer north, west and southeast to boost the number of homes as it attempts to fix the state’s housing crisis.
The government has identified 27 new greenfield areas where land will be released in coming years.
The focus on Melbourne’s booming growth areas comes after the government committed to building 30 per cent of new homes in the outer suburbs, while the other 70 per cent are squeezed into the suburbs.
The commitment is understood to be the biggest rollout of new land for housing a government has ever made.
The land will be slowly released over a 10 year period and is expected to deliver 180,000 new homes.
An employment precinct in the Whittlesea Council area, dubbed the Northern Freight Precinct, and a residential precinct in Cardinia Council, Cardinia Creek South Part 2, will be among the first parcels of land released.
A western corridor within Melton Council adjacent to Caroline Springs, Kororoit Part 2, will also be developed.
Another seven Metropolitan Melbourne greenfield plans are underway.
The changes will also see the Victorian Planning Authority integrated into the Department of Transport and Planning from January 1 next year.
The move is expected to cut delays and duplication, and speed up the planning process.
Draft housing targets, released by the government earlier this year, suggest council areas in Melbourne’s outer north will need to double, triple and quadruple in size by 2051.
They include Mitchell Shire and Melton, which are set for a population explosion.
As previously revealed by the Herald Sun, plans for tens of thousands of homes in Melbourne’s outer southeast, north and northwest had been paused or delayed.
Property figures say the hold up, some of which have lasted years, have been due to government red tape and under resourcing.
Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny has been sitting on a report into one precinct in Beverage North West, proposing more than 16,000 homes, since 2022.
Another development in Clyde South, with plans for more than 13,000 homes, has also been held up.
It was not yet clear which suburbs would be home to the newly unlocked land, with the government expected to release more details on Wednesday.
Shadow planning minister James Newbury posted the Allan government’s housing policy announcement timetable to X, formerly known as Twitter, on Tuesday, saying he received the leak from a departmental insider.
It lists announcements to be made by the government this week, including a Victorian Planning Authority work program announcement scheduled for Wednesday.
It also foreshadows a major planning reform announcement to be made by the Premier during an address to the Melbourne Press Club on Thursday.
Ms Allan’s appearance will be the first time a Premier has addressed the press club since 2015 when Daniel Andrews gave an address shortly after winning the 2014 election.
The leaked memo lists the announcement as “planning reform, two dwellings on a block to be code assessable.”
Announcements on rental reform and Victoria’s Regional Housing Fund are listed for later this week.
The government has already announced a $1bn in the fund to deliver more than 1300 new homes across regional Victoria.
Mr Newbury said he received the leaked memo on Monday night.
“Jacinta Allan will now be forced to reorder her announcements after her own team undermined her in what she has made the policy week of her career,” he said.
Ms Allan has been on a housing announcement blitz since Sunday, outlining the government’s plans to boost housing supply across Melbourne.
It has included announcements of stamp duty cuts, planning changes to allow high-rise towers to be built in 50 suburban activity centres, and increased infrastructure contribution funding from developers.
A government spokesperson thanked Mr Newbury for “promoting” the new housing stimulus.
“The Liberal Member for Brighton does a great job promoting our plan for more homes and more opportunity and has accepted our invitation to do so again,” they said.
“We thank him for this.”
Urban Development Institute of Australia Victorian CEO Linda Allison said greenfield developers had been calling for the release of new land for months.
She said a commitment to 30 per cent greenfield housing meant 18,000 lots would need to be brought to the metropolitan market each year.
“UDIA has been calling for greater certainty on the pipeline of land supply in the greenfield areas of Melbourne,” she said.
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