Victoria unlocks land for housing plan
A new state government program will be providing surplus land with potential for delayed settlement in order to incentivise housing developments in established suburbs.
Minister for Development Victoria, Colin Brooks, has announced the start of a Small Sites Pilot program at sites across Preston, Coburg, Alphington and Malvern.
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With the pilot program seeking to deliver approximately 260 houses across the four locations, and 10 per cent of these homes designated as affordable housing, the state government stated that the initiative would accelerate medium density housing projects “where people need it most”.
“We are pulling every lever at our disposal to build 800,000 homes over the next decade, which includes unlocking surplus government land for more housing close to jobs, transport and public services,” said Brooks.
To fulfil the project, the Victorian government has launched an expressions of interest (EOI) process to explore commercial partnerships with developers that have experience delivering medium-density apartment and townhouse developments.
This EOI process will be overseen by Development Victoria in partnership with the Department of Transport and Planning, and will be open until 27 August, with the aim of starting construction as soon as possible.
Subject to relevant planning approvals, the selected developers will then determine the type of housing offered at each site, which may include townhouses and low- to mid-rise apartments.
With payment for the land not being due until construction is complete, the state government said that providing successful delivery partners with delayed settlement of the land would incentivise developers to “deliver housing as soon as possible”.
If the pilot program is successful, the state government intends to “explore other sites in metropolitan and regional Victoria to help address housing challenges”.
“There is nothing more important than a roof over your head and this is about sending a clear signal to the private sector and giving them more certainty,” Brooks concluded.
This program follows the Victorian government’s recent authorisation of three major developments across Melbourne that will “deliver hundreds of new homes for families”.