Andrews unveils short-stay levy, faster approvals and rent protections

Victoria will introduce a statewide short-term accommodation levy of 7.5 per cent, unlock government land to build 9000 homes and establish a new agency to handle rental disputes under the Andrews government’s reforms to boost housing supply.

Premier Daniel Andrews on Wednesday morning announced details of the state’s long-awaited housing statement.

It includes a short-term stay levy, taking in 7.5 per cent of revenue from platforms such as Airbnb and Stayz.

Government land that is “surplus” will be rezoned across 45 sites across the state and is expected to deliver at least 9000 new homes.

Planning processes will also be streamlined for significant housing developments, worth at least $50 million in Melbourne and $15 million in regional Victoria, if they deliver at least 10 per cent affordable housing, including build-to-rent projects.

Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny will become the decision maker for these larger projects, with the faster approvals to speed up the process from 12 months to four months.

A recent study by the Property Council of Australia found about 86 Melbourne CBD office buildings “ripe for adaptive reuse”.Credit: Jessica Shapiro

The government estimates this would bring 13,200 homes to market that would have been delayed.

The Department of Transport and Planning will lead the delivery of “priority precincts” focused on building communities around major transport and services hubs.

These include Arden, Docklands, Fishermans Bend, Footscray, East Werribee, Parkville and Sunshine.

Small second homes, such as granny flats, will not need a planning permit if they are below 60 square metres and neither will single dwellings on lots bigger than 300 square metres if they do not have a planning overlay covering them.

The Property Council of Australia has identified nearly 80 office buildings that are underused and the government will work with them to convert these into residential and mixed-use properties, creating up to 12,000 homes.

Premier Daniel Andrews said the statement was the most significant shake-up of housing policy in decades.

“What’s more important than somewhere to live?” he said.

“Nothing is. We know that we’re simply not building enough houses right now.”

The Arden precinct could include about 15,000 residents and 34,000 workers. Credit:

The premier confirmed he will soon legislate streamlined planning reforms, as flagged by this masthead, as well as better planning design standards.

To deliver 80,000 new homes every year for the next 10 years, the government will speed up approval times for developers that commit to delivering social and affordable homes.

Melbourne’s landmark public housing towers – built in the middle of the last century – will all be knocked down and redeveloped within three decades.

The redeveloped parcels of land, located in inner-city suburbs, will include a mix of public and private housing. There are more than 40 public housing towers across the Victorian capital.

A public housing tower in Alfred Street, North Melbourne.Credit: Chris Hopkins

Tougher regulations will also be introduced to protect tenants.

Rent increases between fixed-term leases will be restricted to prevent landlords from evicting tenants and hiking their charges significantly and notice periods lengthened to 90 days.

A new agency, Rental Dispute Resolution Victoria, will be set up to resolve disputes between landlords, renters and agents and to keep the Victorian Civil and Administration Tribunal as a last resort.

“We think there’s a better way to do this,” Andrews said.

“We don’t want to see people getting evicted just so the landlord can jack up the rent.”

The practice of rental bidding, where potential tenants can offer to pay more to secure a lease, will be banned and a portable bond scheme established so that renters face less financial stress when waiting for a bond from a previous tenancy to be released.

Ahead of the announcement, Kilkenny announced approvals for five planning proposals that would each contribute hundreds of homes when completed.

The biggest of these is the rezoning of the former Kingswood Golf Course at Dingley Village, which is expected to support about 800 new homes.

The Kingswood Golf Club in Dingley. Credit: Photo: Ken Irwin

The Age revealed a fortnight ago that AustralianSuper had been waiting on the state government to approve the Kingswood Golf Course site for several years.

The delay had called into question the government’s record on housing approvals at a time when Andrews has been highly critical of local councils purportedly stymieing new developments.

Another large parcel of land in Preston, on St Georges Road and opposite the suburb’s tram depot, has been approved for 480 homes, alongside a new shopping centre, retail side and public size.

A build-to-rent project at Macaulay Road, Kensington, will have 477 new homes, while a former University of Melbourne site in Hawthorn will be converted into 300 homes, including 10 per cent that are defined as affordable.

An overheard view of the plans to develop the Kingswood Golf Course project.

The University of Melbourne’s Hawthorn site, which had been in the university’s hands since 1992, had been discussed as a housing project for years and last year sold for more than $40 million.

The Macaulay Road project is situated in a slice of Kensington, between two train stations, that is fast becoming a hub for sustainable, rent-to-buy projects.

Another smaller permit for 37 properties has been approved at 15 York Street in Geelong. The piece of land in central Geelong was formerly commercial property that developers had been planning private residential apartments for.

Ammache Architects describe the proposed development, now approved, as “a sustainable high-end building consisting of 37 luxury apartments with basement carpark”.

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