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The first stages of the Deague Group’s masterplanned community in Victoria’s High Country has been greenlit by the the Alpine Shire Council.The project, known as Bright Valley, is planned for a 40ha site at 805 Great Alpine Road and will comprise 300 lots for 350 homes, open space, playgrounds, dog parks, lookouts and bicycle paths.&nbsp;Turn-key home packages will be offered for two, three, four and five-bedroom homes, which are expected to have 7-star energy ratings.There will also be more than 2500 mature trees planted. Deague said it was keen to avoid as much tree loss as possible and to provide more tree coverage along the Great Alpine Road.Human Habitats and Woodward Civil were consultants on the project planning.Work on the project will be undertaken across several stages—the first comprises 78 lots across 1.43ha.&nbsp;Civil works on the now-approved stages 1 and 2 are expected to begin before the end of the year while the first stage is scheduled for completion by the end of next year.The Milne family, which has a family connection to the Deagues, had owned the site for the past 50 years.&nbsp;In early 2022, the Deague Group bought the site, which had been a tobacco farm, from Olympic skier Malcolm Milne for $35 million.Deague said it estimated the total project would be completed over five years,<div id="3UJf7cS0RQt0N9oMzOV9gI"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/59rbrCOeghu4RwTqw3iaM/adf9384969d3a029335045867e692a3a/bright_valley_deague_group_story_mid.jpg" alt="Some of the designs proposed for the houses at Deague Group's Bright Valley community in Victoria's High Country." data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/59rbrCOeghu4RwTqw3iaM/adf9384969d3a029335045867e692a3a/bright_valley_deague_group_story_mid.jpg"></picture><div>▲ A render of houses at Bright Valley in the Victorian Alps. </div></div>“There’s a chronic under supply of housing and housing for key worker accommodation in the area,” Deague Group chief executive Will Deague told The Urban Developer.“We’re doing extensive outdoor facilities, such as an outdoor gym, but we’re in talks with [the] council about a park and I think further down the track ... there will be demand for childcare.”Five generations of the Deague family have been involved in the business since it was founded in 1859.&nbsp;&nbsp;Bright, 320km north-east of Melbourne, sits at the foot of Mount Hotham.&nbsp;Housing affordability issues have plagued the town, even before an influx of treechangers who left Melbourne during the pandemic,&nbsp;<a data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/deague-group-300-lot-project-bright-victoria" href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/deague-group-300-lot-project-bright-victoria" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> increasing demand further.&nbsp;</a>

A developer is betting that many people keen on a better lifestyle  will want to live in Victoria’s High Country…


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The Victorian government’s decision to increase taxes on vacant residential land and empty houses will force developers to look to other states for business, industry leaders have warned.Developers, builders, economists and lobby groups all say the new tax—which could, according to estimations, add an additional $37 million into state coffers—is unlikely to make much difference to Victoria’s critical housing shortage.The planned tax increase was first mooted last month when, in a surprise to the industry, Victorian treasurer Tim Pallas announced he was expanding the 1 per cent tax on vacant homes to include the whole state, rather than only Melbourne’s inner and middle neighbourhoods.“We know the best thing you can do to make homes more affordable is supply more of them,” Pallas said at the time.&nbsp;&nbsp;“This is all about freeing up empty houses for rent and vacant land for new homes, particularly across the outer suburbs and regional Victoria.”But after a deal was struck this week between Jacinta Allan’s government and the Greens Party, the tax rate on vacant property will rise from 1 per cent of the vacant property’s total improved value to 2 per cent in the second consecutive year.The tax will increase to 3 per cent in the third year.Samuel Property managing director Illan Samuel accuses the government of failing to understand the industry.“We can’t change the market fundamentals … that is a major misalignment the government has at the moment,” he says.“We are sitting on land and opportunities because we have a choice.“Racehorses race and developers develop. We like to get things done, we are not shy of risks or taking things on but if the market fundamentals are not there—be those construction costs, infrastructure, finance requirements, the ability to get sales, or red tape and planning restrictions—all you can really often do is wait for the next cycle.<div id="3wAwWIV3LrmUgIamsqCLDg"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/Gy9mRHIQhRRR98XPm8W70/b534616cff64072a4d7403689c4db2b7/3.jpg" alt="Newly built homes will also escape the tax for three years if owners can show they made genuine attempts to sell " data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/Gy9mRHIQhRRR98XPm8W70/b534616cff64072a4d7403689c4db2b7/3.jpg"></picture><div>▲ Newly built homes will escape the tax for three years if owners can show they made genuine attempts to sell.</div><div> </div></div>“I think that’s what anybody who’s sitting on vacant land is doing,” he says. “But to tax them under the guise we are somehow restricting supply on purpose?”When the treasurer announced the tax changes in October, the Victorian branch of the Property Council of Australia took the industry’s biggest concerns directly to the government.The PCA says it was able to wrangle concessions to the Bill, including protections for existing holiday homeowners regardless of ownership structure.Now, under the tax scheme, the government says it will extend an exemption for holiday homes occupied by owners for more than four weeks a year to include use by immediate family members.Newly built homes will also escape the tax for three years if owners can show they made genuine attempts to sell at, or below, the price they expected when construction started.Still, the PCA is far from happy with the announcement.Victorian executive director Cath Evans says the council does not believe new or expanded taxes will build the new homes that the state desperately needs.“Victoria already has the heaviest property tax burden of any state in the nation,” Evans says.<div id="5nXC11ddP1PamjBlyys2Vw"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/e7ZOc1yWLPTi2aszMAHxK/8bb190de057025b3dc7cc1b4f162720a/2.jpg" alt="The Property Council says Victoria already has the heaviest property tax burden of any state in the country." data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/e7ZOc1yWLPTi2aszMAHxK/8bb190de057025b3dc7cc1b4f162720a/2.jpg"></picture><div>▲ The property council says Victoria already has the heaviest property tax burden of any state in the country.</div><div> </div></div>“The reality is that this is creating an economic environment where Victorian businesses are struggling to attract capital investment to our state—jeopardising the capacity for our industry to build more homes.“We encourage the Victorian government to focus its attention on delivering policy outcomes that incentivise the construction of new homes, reduce the burden on business and allow the property industry to get on with delivering the housing supply that Victorians need and expect.”Samuel echoes that sentiment.“What the government could do is actually try to stimulate demand by incentivising activity rather than penalising those that are perceived to control supply.”Like Samuel, Wel.Co founder and managing director Andrew Welsh has long criticised the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/victoria-planning-dilemma-solutions" data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/victoria-planning-dilemma-solutions">Victorian government’s approach to planning&nbsp;</a>and development. For him, the increased taxes are another nail in the coffin.“They’re trying to solve issues with taxes rather than getting to the real source of the problems,” Welsh says.“In my view, the majority of housing supply is being held up and being caught up in red tape and the approvals process.”Wel.Co is a Melbourne-based developer specialising in building communities. Its bread and butter has been Melbourne’s Growth Corridor Plans—the Victorian capital’s integrated land use and transport schemes which will decide the region’s growth in the coming decades.<div id="5ZRCBxT5OcpbbtGWTYSr0S"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/4TsWUe0wE1chg1Nxmkov6K/31c68bba8f5163131a93a6a58de58c18/1.jpg" alt="Kyle Wathen, Cath Evans, Illan Samuel and Andrew Welsh. All agree the tax increase will have little effect on housing supply." data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/4TsWUe0wE1chg1Nxmkov6K/31c68bba8f5163131a93a6a58de58c18/1.jpg"></picture><div>▲ Kyle Wathen, Cath Evans, Illan Samuel and Andrew Welsh. All agree the tax increase will have little effect on housing supply.</div><div> </div></div>But Welsh says they’ve struggled to find value in Melbourne’s growth corridors during the past couple of years.“There are large tracts of developable land in growth corridors that could be unlocked for housing,” he says, “but Melbourne Water, the local councils are not providing the approvals as fast as they should be.“I know numerous vendors that would develop their properties if they could, but they can't because the authorities are holding up approvals or not enacting their powers to allow development to happen,” he says.“Now they will be hit with this tax.”Kyle Wathen advises on property and construction for chartered accountants William Buck.He says that for developers, the new rates could mean an additional land tax bill of $200,000 a year for a property with a Capital Improved Value (CIV) of $20 million.For a residential property investor with an asset of $1 million, it will add $10,000 each year.“I just can’t see this being the golden key to unlocking housing supply, which right now, that’s where the bottleneck is,” Wathen says. “It’s the supply issue.”“The amount of new taxes around [the] property market that have come in the last calendar year alone is quite incredible,” he says. “Even if the numbers do happen to stack up now, there’s still that uncertainty as to what Big Government is going to do in the future.<div id="3qbGvTfeKliXxk06vLm9pq"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/2eAwUl6DU5tSiDD7dSlOzt/37446a59d0a9d3ffcafd00c7a8f86213/4.jpg" alt="Exemptions may be made for land not currently under an application or request if there is proof of efforts being made to prepare it for development." data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/2eAwUl6DU5tSiDD7dSlOzt/37446a59d0a9d3ffcafd00c7a8f86213/4.jpg"></picture><div>▲ Exemptions may be made for land not currently under an application or request if there is proof of efforts being made to prepare it for development.</div><div> </div></div>“Because it takes a few years to get these things out of the ground.”Wathen believes Victorian developers will start looking to other states.Welsh says it is already happening.“We see it every day, and more and more,” he says.“We’ve seen a huge amount of developers move into the Queensland and South Australian markets over recent years.“It’s not just developers, we’re seeing engineers, sales agents, marketing companies, civil contractors … we’re seeing a lot of businesses that have been home-based in Victoria, move into these other markets because there is more stability around what planning is or isn’t going to happen.”Samuel agrees.“It just says even more that perhaps Victoria is closed for business because it makes it harder for people to get things to work.” &nbsp;<hr> You are currently experiencing The Urban Developer Plus (TUD+), our premium membership for property professionals. <a href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/membership-plans" data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/membership-plans">Click here to learn more.</a><div id="2GhuueZl01Zwo2aFfjNVi2"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/12UMq5eMSEOh0QxJVBYaDt/d7507cf4ceb1365cc9ce7eaff84d06cc/tud___banner.jpg" alt="TUD + Banner" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/12UMq5eMSEOh0QxJVBYaDt/d7507cf4ceb1365cc9ce7eaff84d06cc/tud___banner.jpg"></picture></div>

The decision to increase taxes on vacant land and empty houses will force developers out of Victoria, industry leaders have warned…

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Gold Coast developer Sherpa Property Group is bullish about the Glitter Strip.&nbsp;Hot on the heels of the sell-out success of its Perspective Broadwater project and strong sales performance on its Perspective on Albatross at Mermaid Beach, the developer has put its foot on three more sites.&nbsp;Sherpa Property Group founder Christie Leet said the business was focused on finding new opportunities on the Gold Coast as its existing projects neared completion.&nbsp;Leet said Sherpa had acquired a 1710sq m site at 107 Stanhill Drive, Chevron Island, a 915sq m site at Labrador, and a 17ha site at Terranora for future residential projects.&nbsp;“We’re very bullish on the Gold Coast market and these latest acquisitions will enable us to continue to build and grow Sherpa brand as a residential developer of choice for discerning buyers,” he said.“We believe and have long held the belief that the Gold Coast is poised for remarkable growth in the years to come, and we are thrilled to be able to provide high-end luxury residential offerings as the city matures and grows.“We see tremendous potential in Chevron Island, Labrador and Terranora as three of the best sites available in the Gold Coast region. Choosing these locations for our new projects aligns with our vision of creating premium living spaces that contribute to the vibrant character of the Gold Coast.”<div id="3F6iPglLqSgyecGJdlFwQ2"><div id="sz8gg7AHRbNCKi91UrNjX"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/01pQ7uMBGB2Z4Bm8XhdXQE/c859c1d05f7683870d495082f5aea5e5/Sherpa_Palm_Beach_Nexus_MID.jpg" alt="null" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/01pQ7uMBGB2Z4Bm8XhdXQE/c859c1d05f7683870d495082f5aea5e5/Sherpa_Palm_Beach_Nexus_MID.jpg"></picture><div>▲ Sherpa's Palm Beach project has been scaled back from 14 to 9 storeys. </div></div></div>Leet said the Chevron Island site was slated for a luxury riverfront project and would be added to Sherpa’s Perspective brand.&nbsp;Further down the coast, the Terranora site is planned as a large-lot subdivision and the Labrador acquisition is earmarked as a small-lot subdivision, which Leet said was indicative of the future of housing on the Gold Coast.Sherpa Property Group is in the planning stages for the three projects, with a development application expected to be lodged for the Chevron site in late 2023.Leet said he was confident in the growth trajectory of the Gold Coast market.&nbsp;“Apartment sales have increased, and stock levels have decreased—we are keen to fill that void,” he said.&nbsp;New data from Urbis has revealed a <a data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/gold-coast-urbis-apartment-sales" href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/gold-coast-urbis-apartment-sales" target="_blank" rel="noopener">significant increase in apartment sales</a> (470) compared to the previous quarter (200). Most of these sales were centred around the traditional apartment precincts of Surfers Paradise, Broadbeach and Main Beach.Sherpa has undertaken 11 projects on the Gold Coast in the past six years.These included Scenic Ridge at Bilambil Heights, Freedom Caba at Cabarita, Freedom Rainbow Bay at Rainbow Bay, Freedom Skyline at Ashmore, The Golden Four at Bilinga, Perspective 202 at Bilinga, Perspective 488 and Perspective Two Sea at Palm Beach, Perspective Broadwater at Biggera Waters, Perspective on Albatross at Mermaid Beach and Perspective Nexus at Palm Beach.The developer recently filed new plans for a <a data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/sherpa-stays-course-on-knocked-back-palm-beach-project" href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/sherpa-stays-course-on-knocked-back-palm-beach-project" target="_blank" rel="noopener">32-apartment code-assessable development for a Palm Beach site after its original plans were knocked back</a> on appeal in August. The Gold Coast developer went back to the drawing board to find a new way forward for its 1583sq m site at 949-953 Gold Coast Highway.The Gold Coast City Council approved a 14-storey tower for the site in 2022 but an appeal against the approval was upheld in the Planning and Environment Court in August this year.&nbsp;The new plan for the nine-storey apartment building includes two half-floor penthouses and would be the developer’s 12th project on the Glitter Strip.

Gold Coast developer Sherpa Property Group is bullish about the Glitter Strip, and the developer is beefing up its pipeline with three recent acquisitions... 

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The Queensland government has increased its First Home Owner Grant, calling it a “cost of living boost”.The scheme has increased to $30,000, up from $15,000, with the state government predicting it will offer 12,000 first-time home buyers the grant by June 2025 when the offer expires.The increase brings Queensland in line with Tasmania, which also offers $30,000 in a similar scheme. Other states including New South Wales and Victoria offer $10,000.The grant covers modular and prefabricated homes, granny flats built on a relative’s land, or a home in a manufactured home park.However, the First Home Owner Grant only covers new houses, units and townhouses, regardless of whether buyers are acquiring off-the-plan homes or building themselves.&nbsp;Existing properties are not eligible, and the grant is only available for properties and land valued at less than $750,000.The scheme has faced criticism given that construction costs have increased by an estimated 30 per cent in the wake of the pandemic.&nbsp;In figures from April 2022, the Australian Bureau of Statistics suggested that, on average, building a home cost around $473,000, although this can deviate between states.This year, estimates put the median settlement value for residential land in South-East Queensland at between $248,295 and $345,000.Average completion times for houses in Queensland vary between six months and two weeks, and seven months and two weeks, meaning many first-time buyers will have to pay rent on top of the land and build costs for a period of time.According to figures released by the ABS in June this year, new private sector house commencements fell 6.6 per cent to 25,162 homes from the previous quarter.However, Oliver Hume Queensland general manager Dan Ross said the upsized grant would make it easier for first home buyers to get on the property ladder.“This is a great move by the government,” he said.“First home buyers feel the pressure of interest rates and cost of living pressures more than anyone else and can really use a little extra support to make their home ownership dreams come true.”<div id="B4PrgIqYE3wFEPLW8r2S9"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/7dWjX0VoG2nwAzlothL2nh/e530f49c90eb8c816415cf3aba1a3cb6/Mid_article_resizes__27_.jpg" alt="null" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/7dWjX0VoG2nwAzlothL2nh/e530f49c90eb8c816415cf3aba1a3cb6/Mid_article_resizes__27_.jpg"></picture><div>▲ Granny flats are eligible for the first-home buyers grants, such as this one, the Artist◊ Loft by Funky Little Shacks of Queensland. </div></div>But the Real Estate Institute of Queensland has questioned the move with chief operating officer Dean Milton saying that while the REIQ welcomed the intent to encourage more Queenslanders to achieve home ownership, it would have preferred to see supply tackled head on.“We’re facing some significant challenges in the real estate and housing sector at the moment that can’t be solved by providing a cash boost to some buyers,” Milton said.“We’ve seen in recent times, especially in response to Covid, an array of new grants at both a federal and state level. &nbsp;“While that’s great in theory from construction perspective, it’s brought forward high demand and put pressure on the cost of building supplies and the ability to access tradespeople.“We generally support initiatives that give first home buyers a leg-up towards home ownership, however, at a time when the RBA is doing its best to tame inflation, we question whether now is the right time for more demand-side stimulus.“Builders in Queensland are already facing the highest construction costs in the country and we would expect this measure to drive up those costs further.“The REIQ would like to see the government take on supply-side issues such as land release, the planning approval process, appropriate skills pipeline, or freeing up excess bedrooms from retirees.“We would prefer the one-off windfall from increased coal royalties to support stamp duty and land tax reform or easing deposit obstacles, rather than sugar hits.”

The state government has lauded its First Home Owner Grant for new builds under $750,000 in value, but do the numbers stack up? 

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Two months after filing plans for a dual-tower residential development on the Gold Coast, property giant Stockland has put the Hope Island site on the block.It has been listed and taken to market by Colliers in an expressions of interest campaign.&nbsp;The 4639sq m waterfront site is along a former boulevard of broken dreams at the northern end of the Glitter Strip.It is part of a 3.3ha holding previously envisioned by fallen Gold Coast entrepreneur John Fish as a $1-billion town centre precinct, including upmarket retail outlets, restaurants, a private school and medical precinct.Stockland swooped on the parcel straddling Marina Quays Boulevard back in 2017, acquiring it for $13.5 million from administrators of Fish Developments.Subsequently, it has developed a $60-million townhouse project along its 180m north-facing frontage to Hope Island canal.The townhouses surround the remaining vacant site, one block back from the canal, that Stockland has put up for sale.Under <a data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/stockland-hope-island-twin-towers-da" href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/stockland-hope-island-twin-towers-da" target="_blank">a development application lodged in September</a> with the Gold Coast City Council, Stockland has earmarked the site for two towers rising 10 storeys (33m) and comprising 122 one, two, three and four-bedroom apartments.<div id="58Qp6Vobd0USVdMDjzGnWE"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/5KjkdBQgRno2sFiFqswy3M/ba23a4b56ecb6c7162ccbcfb1e026801/1__6_.jpg" alt="Aerial view of the vacant site at Marina Quays Boulevard, Hope Island." data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/5KjkdBQgRno2sFiFqswy3M/ba23a4b56ecb6c7162ccbcfb1e026801/1__6_.jpg"></picture><div>▲ Aerial view of the vacant site at Marina Quays Boulevard. Source: Nearmap </div></div>Th proposal also includes 1042sq m of podium-top landscaped communal open space with a swimming pool, sunbeds, deck, barbecue and seating nook areas.On the ground level, retail-commercial tenancies with a gross net lettable area totalling 1000sq m fronting Marina Quays Boulevard have been integrated into the DKO Architecture-designed scheme.As well, two levels of carparking for 287 vehicles would be provided across the basement and lower podium.While the application is still undergoing development approval evaluation, the site is being offered as a “premium development opportunity” with potential alternate uses under its centre zoning.

Two months after filing plans for a dual-tower residential development on the Gold Coast, property giant Stockland has put the Hope Island site on the block...

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Sydney aged-care developer Montefiore is facing hurdles to progressing its Hunters Hill expansion project.&nbsp;The developer has submitted a rezoning review to the NSW Department of Planning and Environment after the Hunters Hill Council rejected a a proposal to rezone more land.BCI Central shows the rezoning relates to land at 116 to 120 High Street, 45 to 47 Barons Crescent, and 2 to 20 Gaza Avenue, on which Montefiore already has a facility.The rezoning, requiring an amendment of the Hunters Hill Local Environment Plan 2012, would mean Montefiore could submit further development applications for its vision for ageing in place, including introducing independent living units.This plan for the Montefiore Boronia Park site at Hunters Hill would provide a further 144 residential aged-care and independent living units.&nbsp;It would allow new buildings that could range from two storeys along Gaza Avenue, up to four storeys along Barons Crescent and six storeys in the centre of its current site.However, Hunters Hill Council rejected the planning proposals in September because, it said, the proposals “lacked strategic merit”, with “inadequate community consultation”.&nbsp;It warned that, despite identifying the Montefiore site in its 2021 Local Housing Strategy as a potential route to meeting the future housing needs for the aged-care sector, the move to rezone residential land would “set a serious precedent” for the municipality by allowing zoning and heights inconsistent with the Hunters Hill Local Environment Plan.<div id="4PGZ7tPAPGV0keQYli60rl"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/6fLxgiCasJCZ5mbGnwxODt/560414a6cb0ee7495ad1dca6ea9fd38c/Montefiore_mid.jpg" alt="null" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/6fLxgiCasJCZ5mbGnwxODt/560414a6cb0ee7495ad1dca6ea9fd38c/Montefiore_mid.jpg"></picture><div>▲ Montefiore has operated its large aged-care campus at Hunters Hill since 1939. </div></div>In response to feedback from the council and community after the rejection, Montefiore made changes including reducing the maximum standard building heights and increasing building setbacks at Barons Crescent.“While the objections of a group of local residents was not unexpected, Montefiore is of the view that decision by councillors to refuse the progress of the planning proposal to gateway determination ignores the significant merit of the planning proposal in support of the masterplan for the site and denies the opportunity to develop a unique site which already has significant age-care infrastructure in place,” Montefiore told The Urban Developer in a statement.&nbsp;“It also denies the wider community the benefit of accessing state-of-the-art seniors housing options in the face of a growing ageing demographic.&nbsp;“Accordingly, Montefiore has lodged a request with the DPE to undertake an independent review of the rezoning application.”The latest setback has not hampered Montefiorte’s expansion elsewhere, however, with the developer having recently filed plans for <a data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/montefiore-randwick-seniors-sydney-aged-care-da" href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/montefiore-randwick-seniors-sydney-aged-care-da" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an $83-million seniors housing project in Randwick</a> in Sydney’s south-east.&nbsp;

An aged care developer is battling the rejection of its rezoning plans by a Western Sydney council…

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A Victorian developer is challenging the vertical villages of Melbourne as it looks to the horizontal build-to-rent model in a backyard blitz of Victoria.&nbsp;Resimax chief executive Ozzie Kheir wants to deliver 500 build-to-rent detached houses in the next two years to cater to families looking for suburban lifestyle.And it’s a vision Kheir is committed to.&nbsp;“You go to a local convenience store and see nearly 20 bikes there at four o’clock with all the kids after school riding their bikes to grab an ice cream,” Kheir says.&nbsp;Kheir wants to create affordable rentals and stability for families so they can be part of a community, which is key to his build-to-rent strategy.And it is that strategy that has led Resimax to move away from the push for vertical living and apartment towers in the city.“It’s not an ideal product for a family of three that doesn’t want to live in a city where we have many purchasers and many tenants that would never get an apartment no matter what you do,” Kheir says.Instead Kheir has opted for detached housing as part of the build-to-rent model, finding land and building houses on it that Resimax can then rent out to families predominantly.His goal is to have 500 houses rented under a build-to-rent model to tenants across three major land estates in Melbourne suburbs, there’s just one thing holding him back. Land supply.&nbsp;Resimax, which also has built-to-sell offerings, has already rented out 200 such houses.It’s a pushback against the common assumption that to resolve Australia’s housing crisis, particularly in Victoria,<a data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/richard-temlett-future-melbourne-densification-migration-residential-summit" href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/richard-temlett-future-melbourne-densification-migration-residential-summit" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> developers need to build up, not horizontally</a>.In other words: apartments are in, detached houses are out.And so is the dream of living in a house with a backyard of your own and enough bedrooms for the kids.But Kheir’s plans disrupt that notion.<div id="4XthS5mo0twJLwsaLbVw3e"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/51V26aN8inCQ2nNHEIY7zV/1d1d46e5dd5170951a0622fae38cc521/Mernda.jpg" alt="Resimax' housing estate at Mernda where it will offer build-to-rent detached houses." data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/51V26aN8inCQ2nNHEIY7zV/1d1d46e5dd5170951a0622fae38cc521/Mernda.jpg"></picture><div>▲ Resimax’s housing estate at Mernda where it will offer build-to-rent detached houses. </div></div><h2>The housing dream … but for renters</h2> What is interesting is that that dream of a house with a backyard has previously been one about home ownership.And what Kheir has made happen for more than 200 tenants already is an expansion of that dream for renters.It has also blown a hole in the theory that build-to-rent offerings must only be apartments.Kheir says that although there are many that would be content to live in the city, that is not the demographic that he identified a couple of years ago.“From our experience, our tenants will never live in an apartment,” Kheir says.“That would be very depressing for them to not have the opportunity to live in a four-bedroom house with a yard, probably a little bit out of the city, out of the congestion and close to the schools.“I think our tenants are probably aspirational buyers—if they could buy they would but they want to rent, send their kids to school and then maybe later buy in the same area.”Kheir also charges lower rents for three and four-bedroom houses than <a data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/rentademic-cbre-ray-white-nhfic" href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/rentademic-cbre-ray-white-nhfic" target="_blank" rel="noopener">others charge for one to two-bedroom apartments in the city</a>.“Even if they could afford to live in a studio apartment, they just wouldn’t,” Kheir says. &nbsp;“That’s not what they want, that’s not where they want to raise their kids.”Initially, Kheir attempted to try to make the build-to-rent model work with low-rise housing stock but it didn’t quite work.“We found that it worked much better on the detached housing stock and we just took it from there and it just evolved,” Kheir says.&nbsp;<div id="22TPS4VV1PgVxuYPaCGwVv"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/1msM1wNWBxSfOmMvG2U8rS/00d1d4514781809ec2acd6a3619d406f/Newbridge_Wallan.jpg" alt="Resimax also has another housing estate in Wallan where it will offer build-to-rent detached houses." data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/1msM1wNWBxSfOmMvG2U8rS/00d1d4514781809ec2acd6a3619d406f/Newbridge_Wallan.jpg"></picture><div>▲ Resimax also has another housing estate at Wallan where it will offer build-to-rent detached houses. </div></div><h2>Obstacles along the way</h2> It was a hard sell at first, trying to explain not just the build-to-rent model but how it would work with detached housing.“We started having conversations with different banks and they were very negative about it,” Kheir says.“Most banks were negative about it.“Most people just didn’t understand it.”But as Kheir points out, <a data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/build-to-rent-australia-2023" href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/build-to-rent-australia-2023" target="_blank" rel="noopener">build-to-rent has only recently been understood as a concept in Australia in the last 18 months or so</a> with the conversation mostly centered around apartments.Elsewhere in the world, detached housing has been a part of a build-to-rent model for far longer.“It’s the majority of build-to-rent housing in the United States,” Kheir points out.It took some time to get one of the major banks, ANZ, to understand&nbsp; Kheir’s vision and to come on board as the main lender for Resimax.Nomura has also come on board as the equity partner.All that remains now is the one obstacle that Resimax has to battle against most fervently: <a data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/victorian-legislation-landbanking-land-tax-expansion" href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/victorian-legislation-landbanking-land-tax-expansion" target="_blank" rel="noopener">land supply</a>.&nbsp;<div id="7lT3x6znt2BNkadLtfrM4t"></div><h2>Land supply</h2> Kheir is very frank.“There’s none of it,” he says.“That’s what’s driving all the prices. You have very little land available to develop.“And there’s a lack of approval and approved land development all across Melbourne.“It’s forcing prices to continue to grow.”That leaves Kheir in a tough spot as he tries to reach his goal of 500 houses rented out within 18 to 24 months.Resimax also has its own builders and construction workers so while construction costs are a slight concern they aren’t as big a factor as land supply is.The developer starts 20 to 40 houses each month and delivers at least 10 houses each month to be ready for market for renting to potential tenants.Kheir says he sees at least 15 to 20 applicants per house with many coming back a third or fourth time but Resimax cannot accommodate all those who want to rent them.<a data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/victorian-legislation-landbanking-land-tax-expansion" href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/victorian-legislation-landbanking-land-tax-expansion" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Finding more land</a> could speed up the process.But the land they need has to be close to schools, services and transport networks so that all that is provided when Resimax starts building the houses.“The government hasn’t approved any land for a long time,” Kheir says.“So by not approving land, we can’t deliver houses even if we want to.“We’re available and able to but we can’t because there’s not enough land supply.”<div id="1ClSk9nJpqThgW5oalIRQY"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/2wh7dP7OgSHtk7uvduAXoH/e0ec3b5fdfdd8be5033c6fb92aa8008d/home_btr_melb.jpeg" alt="Melbourne’s first build-to-rent development, a 59-level tower in Southbank, has opened its doors with a third of its 400 apartments now occupied.

A render of Home at 256-260 City Road—alongside the Crown Entertainment Complex and Southbank Waterfront Precinct—the first build-to-rent development in Melbourne.
" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/2wh7dP7OgSHtk7uvduAXoH/e0ec3b5fdfdd8be5033c6fb92aa8008d/home_btr_melb.jpeg"></picture><div>▲ Melbourne’s first build-to-rent development was a 59-level tower called Home at 256-260 City Road, Southbank. </div></div><h2>The future</h2> It’s a big concern for Kheir.“If we think we have got a housing crisis now, I’d be very wary about what’s going to happen in the next two to four years with the current supply of stock,” he says.“It’s an issue that I think will need to be addressed.“So that we’ll have housing for the future.”In the meantime, Resimax plans to reassess its goals after renting out the 500th house and then see what could be in store.Kheir has not ruled out applying the concept in places beyond just Victoria where Eynesbury, Mernda and Wallan are the three main locations for their build-to-rent offerings.But Kheir thinks it would require a lot of different properties and areas in several states for the notion to take off and isn’t ruling out competitors getting involved either.“I don’t know of anyone who is doing the same thing,” he says. &nbsp;“We believe that we are the only ones doing this at the moment.“Others will follow and so that should be the case.” <hr> You are currently experiencing&nbsp;The Urban Developer&nbsp;Plus (TUD+), our premium membership for property professionals.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/membership-plans" data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/membership-plans">Click here to learn more.</a><div id="2GhuueZl01Zwo2aFfjNVi2"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/12UMq5eMSEOh0QxJVBYaDt/d7507cf4ceb1365cc9ce7eaff84d06cc/tud___banner.jpg" alt="TUD + Banner" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/12UMq5eMSEOh0QxJVBYaDt/d7507cf4ceb1365cc9ce7eaff84d06cc/tud___banner.jpg"></picture></div>

With build-to-rent often conjuring up visions of inner city apartments, one developer has decided to go in the opposite direction entirely…


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There are an estimated 3000 properties zoned as residential in established suburbs in Melbourne that have been waiting to be developed for more than five years.This is part of the reason the state’s Vacant Residential Land Tax (VRLT) will be expanded as the new Jacinta-Allan-led government gets serious ahout Victoria’s housing crisis.Much of those 3000 properties have been landbanked—a common practice whereby owners hold onto land until conditions are favourable either to sell or develop.The state government now wants to speed that process up to help address housing supply.&nbsp;“We know the best thing you can do to make homes more affordable is supply more of them—this is all about freeing up empty houses for rent and vacant land for new homes, particularly across the outer suburbs and regional Victoria,” state treasurer Tim Pallas said.&nbsp;From January 1, 2025 all empty residential-zoned properties in the state, including in the regions, that have a building on them and have been empty for more than six months will be subject to the tax.That tax is set at 1 per cent of the property’s improved value and is expected to generate $6 million in revenue for the state.Currently $10 million is collected by the tax annually. The expansion is expected to take that to $31 million per annum.The tax has until now has only applied to 16 inner and middle suburbs within Melbourne.It is separate to the land tax, the absentee owner surcharge and the federal vacancy fee for foreign owners of residential dwellings, according to the State Revenue Office, who admisters the tax.<div id="2g2oKHfRNp5qRo4AXjRUbm"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/2S0MtHAM4GRnPyP3RZRZUq/c3e4173cc97a83579716f6c531391eca/greenfields_vsumm_regions_hero.jpg" alt="Greenfield market will continue to grow as people continue to want to work remotely." data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/2S0MtHAM4GRnPyP3RZRZUq/c3e4173cc97a83579716f6c531391eca/greenfields_vsumm_regions_hero.jpg"></picture><div>▲ Greenfield market will continue to grow as people continue to want to work remotely. </div></div>And from January 1, 2026, the tax will also cover unimproved land zoned for residential use that has laid vacant for more than six months.The period of vacancy used for calculating if properties need to pay the tax will start on January 1, 2024.State agencies will not be exempt from the tax and will be asked to justify why they are holding on to the land.&nbsp;The government believes the tax will motivate owners to sell land to those who can develop it or if the land has vacants homes, will prompt owners to add them to the rental market.Exemptions will apply for single family holiday homes, any property recently acquired or occupied regularly for work and any properties being built or renovated.Not every one agrees with the move: The Victorian Farmers Federation president Emma Germano said many farmers were concerned agricultural land used to house seasonal workers would get caught up in the tax expansion.Property Council of Australia executive director Cath Evans said the move undid any good faith instilled as part of the recently signed Affordability Partnership.“The partnership clearly outlines that consultation is a shared responsibility and that we all agree to work together to find solutions in a complex economic environment,” Evans said.“Sadly, eight business days later, the Treasurer, who was a signatory to the partnership, has announced the introduction of new and expanded taxes without any consultation.“We are yet to understand how these reforms will improve the availability of rental stock to the market or increase the supply of new homes.”<div id="7oT2WrmhYnMofM2Ov10s3r"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/4BNBkb1YU4ae2sSrHo0pbp/09bec0a47f83df666579576de5123f57/Mid_article_resizes__73_.jpg" alt="null" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/4BNBkb1YU4ae2sSrHo0pbp/09bec0a47f83df666579576de5123f57/Mid_article_resizes__73_.jpg"></picture><div>▲ The new tax comes as the government rolls out its Housing Statement to add 800,000 homes to Victoria during the coming decade. </div></div>The Affordability Partnership is an agreement between the state government and industry to work on policy development to address housing affordability.&nbsp;Victorian Greens leader Samantha Ratnam said landowners currently had to self declare vacant properties for the land tax to apply, so the expansion was potentially unenforceable.&nbsp;The State Revenue Office website says that landowners need to notify the agency of any vacant property they own by January 15 each year including any that would qualify for exemptions from the tax.&nbsp; It also says that the agency does carry out monitoring and investigations and that late notifications are viewed more favourably than properties uncovered during investigations.The Greens want the tax to be increased to 3 per cent of improved land value.&nbsp;Pallas had expected to introduce the legislation in the Victorian parliament late last week.<div id="2bdd5424IdrvYbaF3dCn15"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/4prGiirXREwcQPDZdQ3Ejq/887194c5a6d9f17465b9ea3bcf07d878/hero_dan_quits.jpg" alt="Daniel Andrews has resigned as Victorian premier, citing a need to leave the role before he resents it and spend time with family." data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/4prGiirXREwcQPDZdQ3Ejq/887194c5a6d9f17465b9ea3bcf07d878/hero_dan_quits.jpg"></picture><div>▲ Former premier Daniel Andrews. </div></div><a data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/daniel-andrews-steps-down-victorian-premier-housing-statement-last-reform" href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/daniel-andrews-steps-down-victorian-premier-housing-statement-last-reform" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Before his resignation</a>, Daniel Andrews announced legislative reforms as part of his last reform,<a data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/victoria-planning-system-reforms-daniel-andrews-2023" href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/victoria-planning-system-reforms-daniel-andrews-2023" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> the long-awaited housing statement which has an ambitious goal of 800,000 new homes</a>.&nbsp;They included the new 7.5 per cent levy on short-stay accommodation platforms such as Airbnb.This is expected to generate up to $70 million for the state government to spend on affordable housing.Critics however said the costs would only be passed on to the consumer.<a data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/nsw-shorter-term-rental-cap-byron-shire-council" href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/nsw-shorter-term-rental-cap-byron-shire-council" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New South Wales has since imposed a cap on Airbnb rentals in Byron Shire</a> aimed at freeing up housing for key workers and long-term residents.

New legislation has followed Jacinta Allan’s appointment as Victorian premier but will it actually help resolve the housing crisis? 


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Across Australia, councils and local government areas are finding themselves stuck—almost half have no planners.&nbsp;“We know that there are 232 local government areas in Australia (43 per cent) where there are no planners working within them,” Planning Institute of Australia chief executive Matt Collins says.&nbsp;That astounding figure means nearly half of the country’s councils cannot do what is a key aspect of their role—assess development applications.&nbsp;It has become a mammoth obstacle for a nation trying to resolve a housing crisis. But it is <a href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/victoria-planning-dilemma-solutions" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/victoria-planning-dilemma-solutions">not a new problem</a>.&nbsp;In 2022, it was NSW that had the problem according to Jobs and Skills Australia’s (JSA) annual Skills Priority List but in 2023 the problem has worsened, Collins says.“In the past 12 months, the Skills Priority List shows that urban and regional planners shortages have grown from NSW to a shortage in every state and territory except the ACT.&nbsp;“The new data tells us we now have a statewide shortage in NSW and South Australia, and regional shortages in Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory.”Those shortages in Victoria are so acute that several councils are thinking outside the box to address the issueTheir proposed solution? Share the burden.<h2>A novel solution</h2> Sharing planners has happened before—last year, the-then NSW premier, Dominic Perrottet, announced that a flying squad of planners would be available to travel to urban and regional councils to help with assessing planning applications.&nbsp;And more recently, the newly elected Chris Minns government in NSW announced it would move <a href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/nsw-government-works-to-rebalance-housing-supply" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/nsw-government-works-to-rebalance-housing-supply">staff around and bring more people from other committees into the planning department to help assess applications faster</a>.&nbsp;Previous Victorian planning minister Richard Wynne <a href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/victoria-accelerates-housing-approvals-as-nsw-continues-to-fall-behind" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/victoria-accelerates-housing-approvals-as-nsw-continues-to-fall-behind">also tried to speed up planning approvals</a>.&nbsp;But what is new is that under an agreement between 10 councils in rural Victoria resources will be pooled.&nbsp;<div id="6CfsxWOmc81n4ptpH2hr4s"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/4k3TvuVGFAdSlcg64VL1Bb/8828b5908b2a1a5c5588b319631b70ef/5.jpg" alt="null" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/4k3TvuVGFAdSlcg64VL1Bb/8828b5908b2a1a5c5588b319631b70ef/5.jpg"></picture><div>▲ Swan Hill mayor Les McPhee: The council is one of the drivers behind the new regional solution to the housing crisis. </div></div>The Loddon Mallee Housing Action Plan, finalised in November and now being adopted and implemented, was driven primarily by the Swan Hill Shire Council and has several objectives.Key to it is that the councils want to pool resources and have asked for funding for a housing officer role who will work for all council as needed.“There are common housing issues across the Loddon Mallee region, so it makes sense for us to ... have an officer working towards a consistent approach to the strategic deliverables identified in the plan,” Campaspe Shire Council mayor Rob Amos says.“We are one of 10 local governments that has committed funds towards the creation of a regional housing officer position, dedicated to the delivery of Housing Action Plan strategies across the region.”Swan Hill mayor Les McPhee said the availability of rental properties was just one part of the complex issue of social and affordable housing competing for available housing stock.&nbsp;“In our municipality there is also a further housing need for accommodation for professional workers, semi-professional workers and seasonal workers—this is stretching our local housing resources to the limit,” he said.“The issue of housing will become further challenging with advancing industries such as the mining sector—as these industries expand in the region our municipality is becoming a retail centre for a growing workforce, creating a significant flow-on effect.”The Loddon Mallee will need 87,400 new homes within the next 15 years—it has been estimated it will lose an estimated $1 billion in gross domestic product if that doesn’t happen.About 5 per cent of Victoria’s population—340,000 people—live in the region.<div id="2qODe4reiQJ8oH2c53HCrW"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/1JdVFQ7Ab4QOzuH4Y9UNAw/0bd63423927ff5d98c27da3089b31dcc/Campaspe_Mayor_Rob_Amos_mid_article_image.jpg" alt="Campaspe Council mayor Rob Amos says the ten councils in the Loddon Mallee region share many housing issues in common." data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/1JdVFQ7Ab4QOzuH4Y9UNAw/0bd63423927ff5d98c27da3089b31dcc/Campaspe_Mayor_Rob_Amos_mid_article_image.jpg"></picture><div>▲ Campaspe Council mayor Rob Amos says the 10 council areas in the Loddon Mallee region have many housing issues in common. </div></div>Campaspe council's September planning meeting agenda included an item detailing the housing action plan and the $150,000 it is estimated the role will cost for the first year.After the first year, which will act as a demonstration period, the councils will apply to the state government to fund the role through the Regional Jobs and Infrastructure Fund at a cost of $300,000 for two years.&nbsp;A consultation process was undertaken with each of the 10 councils in the Loddon Mallee region taking part: Mildura, Buloke, Gannawarra, Swan Hill, Loddon, Campaspe, Bendigo, Central Goldfield, Mount Alexander and Macedon Ranges.Six strategies were decided on.&nbsp;These included improving strategic planning for future housing, addressing the need for money for trunk and other necessary infrastructure, speeding up development of any zoned or suitable land for housing, and helping improve developer feasibility for medium-density infill housing projects.Addressing the demand for affordable and secure housing and reducing the time and cost of unlocking new land were also included.Many of the councils have part time staff who do some of the necessary planning work in a housing officer’s role but there is no capacity for these staff to help deliver the strategies outlined in the action plan.The Loddon Mallee Regional Development Australia (RDA) committee, based within Development Victoria, has put up an initial $75,000 for the first year of the role with the councils funding the remainder of the $150,000 budget.&nbsp;Initially, the Swan Hill Rural City Council, as the driver of the plan, will organise its adoption and initial implementation among the councils while a Loddon Mallee Housing Action Plan implementation taskforce is established.&nbsp;The Swan Hill council’s taskforce will act as a body for governance with a view that this role will be rotated through the councils.&nbsp;<h2>Obstacles to regional housing development</h2> Planning has long been a headache for regional councils.Demand for housing in the regions skyrocketed due to pandemic-driven migration to the bush and has continued as increasing housing prices in cities and suburbs have buyers looking further afield.The rise of working from home has allowed many who would otherwise feel trapped in expensive locations the freedom to move to more affordable or accessible regions.But regional councils cannot approve or build new housing fast enough to keep up with demand.One of the biggest issues is unlocking empty land for development faster, according to the Campaspe Shire Council’s agenda item for the housing action plan.“A significant common issue across the region is the existence of vacant or surplus-to-requirement land held by state government departments that would be highly suitable for housing, however, the inability to release this land due to bureaucratic processes presents as a major impediment,” the agenda said.&nbsp;“If this project was able to influence a transferable pathway for releasing land of this nature for housing development, this would be a significant benefit for the region.”&nbsp;Many large stretches of crown or council-owned greenfield land exist but need major changes to planning schemes and structure plans to allow residential and other associated uses.Unlocking land isn’t enough on its own.<div id="64vFoxEScsgDiPtZ55BW4B"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/6kqgk608gFoJY8FN6Ufsue/ba9667a688f89a7f89dfdeaa26090663/rural_land_NSW_mid_article_image.jpg" alt="A lack of trunk infrastructure can prevent available regional land from being developed for housing. " data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/6kqgk608gFoJY8FN6Ufsue/ba9667a688f89a7f89dfdeaa26090663/rural_land_NSW_mid_article_image.jpg"></picture><div>▲ A lack of trunk infrastructure is a major issue for developing regional land. </div></div>But much of the empty land is former farmland with little to no trunk infrastructure such as water, sewage and power connections.Putting the infrastructure into these sites is extremely expensive and requires dealing with landowners and state government bodies.&nbsp;It’s not a cost councils with limited funds can bear, nor the developers trying to make projects stack up as materials and labour costs continue to rise.&nbsp;Some state governments have tried to address this—<a href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/nsw-allocates-aud500m-to-get-more-homes-built" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/nsw-allocates-aud500m-to-get-more-homes-built">NSW has put in more money for trunk infrastructure</a>.&nbsp;The Loddon Mallee action plan includes better liasion between state government departments and councils over barriers to accessing Development Contributions Plans and Infrastructure Contributions Plans, and accessing NHFIC funding for infrastructure.A registery of under-used land would be compiled and a equity partnership program for landowners and developers established with Development Victoria. It will also be used to market potential development opportunities for developers outdside the region, such as Melbourne and Bendigo.The hosuing office would also look at strategic regional planning, strategising for housing supply for the next 30 years and advocating for a share of windfall-gains tax revenue to support housing and infrastructure costs.&nbsp;Analysing existing planning frameworks, creating precinct structure plans, identifying areas for land release, creating planning hubs and partnering with universities to increase the number of planners are also listed actions.&nbsp;On the last action, Collins agrees says,&nbsp;“The institute has recently written to the Australian government expressing our concern about the pipeline of future planners with recent course closures at James Cook University and Bond University, and states including Tasmania and South Australia now lacking an undergraduate planning degree altogether.“We are urging governments and universities to invest in growing the planning profession and promoting planning as a career choice.”<div id="5x61AJqbkUyT3tMIQdclMK"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/5uFz8yrS3xNV3OPeuz1fDY/7fda8e81d3df6dc22e2a67e8d53692b9/Former_Ballarat_Saleyards__2021___1_.JPG" alt="The former Ballarat Saleyards site where the athletes village will be built." data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/5uFz8yrS3xNV3OPeuz1fDY/7fda8e81d3df6dc22e2a67e8d53692b9/Former_Ballarat_Saleyards__2021___1_.JPG"></picture><div>▲ Bendigo, Ballarat (pictured), and other regional Victorian councils recently lost one possible housing solution, the Commonwealth Games, when it was cancelled. </div></div>The housing officer will also review planning controls, create an alliance of developers, builders and others willing to build in the region, advocate to the state government for a bounty per unit for developers for each medium-density project developed in the region and advocate for the state government to prioritise more medium-density infill projects.&nbsp;First Nations housing projects and rural and seasonal worker accommodation are also on the list as is advocating for an extension of the Big Housing Build to regional Victoria.A regional service to help identify projects for the Development Facilitation Program, researching low-cost construction options, and advocating for expanding the Regional Planning Hub to help speed up approvals are also actions listed in the plan.<a href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/victoria-commonwealth-games-cancelled-property-reaction" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/victoria-commonwealth-games-cancelled-property-reaction">The cancellation of the Commonwealth Games</a> has also rendered some of the actions in the plan irrelevant—there will no longer be atheletes villages built to be converted into housing after the Games, <a href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/build-to-rent-innovation-affordable-housing-investment-australia" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/build-to-rent-innovation-affordable-housing-investment-australia">leaving Bendigo and four other councils in regional Victoria</a> without a solution to their housing woes.&nbsp;While it is in the initial stages of implementation, what the action plan can offer now is a potential solution to problems faced by many developers who have otherwise paused or dropped projects.&nbsp;And for those needing somewhere to live in this region, it offers hope. <hr> You are currently experiencing The Urban Developer Plus (TUD+), our premium membership for property professionals. <a href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/membership-plans" data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/membership-plans">Click here to learn more.</a><div id="2GhuueZl01Zwo2aFfjNVi2"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/12UMq5eMSEOh0QxJVBYaDt/d7507cf4ceb1365cc9ce7eaff84d06cc/tud___banner.jpg" alt="TUD + Banner" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/12UMq5eMSEOh0QxJVBYaDt/d7507cf4ceb1365cc9ce7eaff84d06cc/tud___banner.jpg"></picture></div>

As planner shortages become more dire across the country, ten regional councils have hit upon a possible solution to get planning approvals moving…


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All three eastern states have been unable to keep up with the demand for new housing according to PEXA and Informed Decision’s (.id) latest research into new land releases.The inaugural Residential Land Report looked at the settlement of vacant greenfield land for low-density dwellings across New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria over the three-year period from July 2020 to June 2023.&nbsp;Volume and time from sale to settlement were also noted to find how efficiently land was being delivered to market to meet demand.PEXA’s partner, .id (also part of the PEXA Group) provided demographic and population forecast data for the report.About $37-billion worth of new land has been released in all three states this financial year, but Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria’s demand is outstripping supply.&nbsp;Settlements on new residential land have dipped 13.6 per cent to 73,901 this financial year.&nbsp;The research also shows that it takes more than a year to settle on a vacant site in Victoria with New South Wales and Queensland unable to release enough land.&nbsp;<div id="2g2oKHfRNp5qRo4AXjRUbm"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/2S0MtHAM4GRnPyP3RZRZUq/4d9f6657fe3d477045b7330566e79544/greenfields_vsumm_regions_hero.jpg" alt="Greenfield market will continue to grow as people continue to want to work remotely." data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/2S0MtHAM4GRnPyP3RZRZUq/4d9f6657fe3d477045b7330566e79544/greenfields_vsumm_regions_hero.jpg"></picture><div>▲ Only Victoria has managed to keep up or close to the housing demand with its release of greenfield land. </div></div>Releasing greenfield land for new housing is an important part of addressing the housing affordability crisis. House and land continues to appeal to buyers in the market according to PEXA head of research Mike Gill.“Building a new home in a greenfield housing estate remains the preferred option for many Australians, particularly families and first homebuyers,” Gill said.“They are drawn to the lower prices compared to established suburbs and the ability to build a large, new, freestanding home to their own specifications.”Rising demand has increased the cost of vacant land with the median price hitting $500,000 for the first time in Greater Sydney.&nbsp;The research also found that local government areas in both New South Wales and Queensland would need to build thousands of units in order to meet housing demand forecast for the next five years.&nbsp;Only Victoria is currently releasing enough new land to meet the rise in forecasted demand with 33,847 settlements in the 2023 financial year.That is still a decline of 10.1 per cent on the figures for the 2022 financial year.&nbsp;&nbsp;But New South Wales and Queensland were faster to release land with buyers waiting only 275 and 156 days respectively on average while Victoria took 385 days.&nbsp;Queensland had 24,226 vacant land settlements, 16.2 per cent down on the previous year.&nbsp;New South Wales had the weakest new land supply with only 15.828 vacant land settlements in 2023, down 16.4 per cent from 2022.Both states were well below the predicted housing growth required.&nbsp;“This is important for determining whether we are releasing enough land, if we’re releasing it in the right areas and if we’re releasing it fast enough,” Gill said.<div id="2vu3y4FiYrz0PjjJs7sHt4"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/Dua8TT9AVlXyu7SedbZ6z/b9659b189c3bc29cc23b4458773401af/homebuyers_scheme_story_hero.jpg" alt="Expansions to the Homebuyers Guarantee Scheme may not be enough to ensure access to housing." data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/Dua8TT9AVlXyu7SedbZ6z/b9659b189c3bc29cc23b4458773401af/homebuyers_scheme_story_hero.jpg"></picture><div>▲ Settlement values have increased in all three eastern states. </div></div>Settlement values increased in all eastern states with new blocks in Greater Sydney up by 13.5 per cent to an average of $489,764.New blocks in Greater Melbourne increased by 6.3 per cent to $288,607 and in Greater Brisbane by 9.4 per cent to $248,295.&nbsp;“The clear conclusion we can draw from the latest data is that there is a lot of room for improvement if we are going to meet the demands of a growing population – either by releasing more greenfield land or accepting that we will need to build more apartments in our urban centres,” Gill said.The greenfield areas that will have the highest need for more medium to high density housing in the next five years are Brisbane with 5035 units needed, Blacktown with 1527 units needed, Liverpool with 1135 units needed and Camden with 1614 units needed.Most greenfield areas in Victoria are meeting forecasted demand or are close to doing so.&nbsp;

New research on the release of land for residential use has found that the three main east coast states cannot keep up with the current demand…


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Antony Catalano freely admits he wants it all.“I didn’t want to just be in the listings game.“The plan is to have a complete view of the market,” the journalist entrepreneur said of his vertically integrated View Media Group, which has the property listing portal RealEstateView.com.au at its core.“We want to build the real estate superstore of the future.”Catalano was the big finish to the Urbanity conference on the Gold Coast where he was speaking in conversation with Adam Di Marco, chief executive of The Urban Developer which staged the three-day knowledge and networking event for property professionals.‘The Cat’, as Catalano is affectionately known, co-owns View Media with Melbourne billionaire Alex Waislitz. The ANZ bank and Kerry Stokes’ Seven West Media are also investors.In pursuit of its ‘superstore’ strategy, View has assembled a set of proptech tools, including the listing portal, advertising technology, lead generation and management, media strategy and purchasing, AI capabilities and data integration.This creates a cohesive property ecosystem where each entity enhances the value of the others, as View aims to profit from both the buying and selling sides of property sales transactions.<div id="4Jz6luJJ5mMVf6ChoRLsgM"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/4iFckQh7wutc9rPv1Pobcp/14ce3a469cdc448f07ecd6cb11898527/Mid_article_resizes__46_.jpg" alt="null" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/4iFckQh7wutc9rPv1Pobcp/14ce3a469cdc448f07ecd6cb11898527/Mid_article_resizes__46_.jpg"></picture><div>▲ Antony Catalano in conversation with The Urban Developer founder Adam Di Marco at Urbanity 2023. </div></div>At its core is the listing portal, which competes against established heavy-hitters RealEstate.com.au and Domain.com.au, the latter led by Catalano until 2018.&nbsp; <div id="1gV90deueoU5zUjPja4Uj6">“We want to be a marketplace where you can come in and look at listings for free and list for free.“We want to have 11 million listings so we have every house in the country,” he told delegates at The Star, Broadbeach, about 90km up the M1 from Raes at Wategos, his exclusive Byron Bay guesthouse.<h2>Steep discount</h2> Also feeding into this ecosystem is Australian Community Media, a stable of more than 100 former Fairfax regional and rural newspapers and websites that Catalano and Waislitz bought from the merged Fairfax and Nine Entertainment in 2019.&nbsp;They paid $115 million for the business, which was a steep discount to the $3 billion Fairfax outlaid for it in 2007. The assets included a $60-million property portfolio.“I wouldn’t be spending $115 million without a plan,” Catalano said at the time.“With 8 million people [living in the regions] you’ve got a massive revenue opportunity. Deals like this don’t come along very often.“It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that I’m here. I think it’s a good deal.”<picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/1tNao4yIl1AIJwJwB5MPYs/9caf1d50fef7bb038920bb38c7fd1620/raes.jpeg" alt="null" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/1tNao4yIl1AIJwJwB5MPYs/9caf1d50fef7bb038920bb38c7fd1620/raes.jpeg"></picture><div>▲ Inside Catalano’s Raes at Wategos, Byron Bay. </div></div><div id="3ORCnhLLKnSpqnT5HrhPMP"><h2>Mr Property</h2> At Urbanity, Catalano shared details of his origin story as Australia’s Mr Property.“I was always obsessed with it,” he said of real estate.&nbsp;“I wanted a holiday home before I had my own house.”He was aged 27 and working at Melbourne’s The Age newspaper when then-editor Alan Kohler, in need of a new property editor, learned that the young production journalist was converting a warehouse with Scott McElroy [now a Belle Property principal] and, out of the blue, he offered him the senior role.Kohler, now finance presenter on ABC TV news, has referred to Catalano as “one of the great entrepreneur journalists in Australia”.As Age property editor in the mid-1990s, Catalano wrote a widely read property gossip column called Trading Places, later Private Property, which allowed him to build a large and valuable network among Melbourne’s real estate agents.The promotions kept coming and he moved to the commercial side of the business as marketing director, before things soured at Fairfax and he was made redundant in 2008.The former high-flyer had hit some career turbulence. He was having no luck finding a replacement job and the financial pressure of a large mortgage and five children to support was building.<picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/2keroWXnp7DJ8bEE73SUYs/cb436d3c4ca41412bcbf83d7d0f5e9f1/BonoboMID.jpg" alt="null" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/2keroWXnp7DJ8bEE73SUYs/cb436d3c4ca41412bcbf83d7d0f5e9f1/BonoboMID.jpg"></picture><div>▲ Raes plans to bring its understated luxury services to a new hotel-style development in the heart of Byron in a deal inked with developer Podia. </div></div>He considered buying a cafe with his redundancy payout. “I was going to buy myself an income because I clearly wasn’t qualified to do anything,” he said in a 2015 interview.“I didn’t have a degree, the economy was in tatters, I couldn’t get a call back from anyone and the media industry was falling apart at a rate of knots,” he said.It was now that the strong connections he formed while writing the Private Property column proved their worth, as he approached leading Melbourne real estate agents with a business proposition—back him as investors and become both co-owners and advertisers in their own suburban news publication.<h2>Overnight success</h2> The Weekly Review was an immediate financial success.In what must have been a satisfying deal for Catalano, just 18 months after launch Fairfax was losing so much agent advertising to Metro Media Publishing they were forced to buy half the business for $35 million and then acquire the remaining stake for $72 million in 2013.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;“It was really that column that transformed my relationship with the estate agents from being a journo to a trusted reporter within the industry to a friend and ultimately to a business partner,” Catalano has said.“People talk about overnight success stories. Mine was a 20-year overnight success story.”<h2>Fairfax: The Sequel</h2> Catalano was now wealthy and welcomed back to helm Fairfax’s Domain.com.au. Under his leadership the listing portal grew to generate the bulk of Fairfax’s profits and it listed on the ASX in November 2017 with a $2.2 billion valuation.Shortly after the float, Catalano left Fairfax again, to resurface most notably with the Australian Community Media acquisition, a key piece of his post-Domain plan.“All these big tech companies have big media partners and the reason is that you need the eyeballs,” Catalano said at Urbanity.<h2>Raes at Wategos</h2> Among the strategising, network building and deal making, Catalano finds time to pursue his passion for property from the development side.In 2016 he bought and refurbished the seven-room boutique hotel and restaurant, Raes at Wategos, at Byron Bay.And with developer Podia he is <a href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/raes-wategos-byron-bay-podia-calile-development-hotel" data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/raes-wategos-byron-bay-podia-calile-development-hotel">parlaying that brand’s luxury reputation into an exclusive residential project at Byron</a> called The Bonobo by Raes, featuring 41 hotel-style apartments.<h2>Strategies, tech, relationships&nbsp;</h2> With a mix of forward-thinking strategies and tactical investments, Antony Catalano is cementing his leading place in Australia’s real estate landscape. His ambitions for the View Media Group are driven by his blend of media, technology, marketing and real estate expertise. The value he places on relationships highlights the importance of partnerships to business success.Up against stiff competition in Domain.com.au, Rupert Murdoch’s RealEstate.com.au and every other savvy operator who wants to dominate the hugely lucrative real estate transaction space, only time will tell whether Catalano’s View to making a killing will pan out as planned.&nbsp;But he is hoping the first portal of call for anyone looking for property in Australia will be his.The Urban Developer’s annual Urbanity conference for the creators of cities in the Asia-Pacific was staged on August 29-31 at the Gold Coast. <hr> You are currently experiencing The Urban Developer Plus (TUD+), our premium membership for property professionals. <a href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/membership-plans" data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/membership-plans">Click here to learn more.</a><div id="2GhuueZl01Zwo2aFfjNVi2"><picture><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/12UMq5eMSEOh0QxJVBYaDt/d7507cf4ceb1365cc9ce7eaff84d06cc/tud___banner.jpg" alt="TUD + Banner" data-mce-src="//images.ctfassets.net/8pr762qjocl3/12UMq5eMSEOh0QxJVBYaDt/d7507cf4ceb1365cc9ce7eaff84d06cc/tud___banner.jpg"></picture></div>

Speaking to The Urban Developer founder Adam Di Marco at Urbanity 2023, Antony Catalano outlines what he thinks the future of real estate will look like…


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SIG Group has launched a major 28.2ha residential project to support the establishment of a new suburb.The developers said they were focused on “delivering supply to a chronically undersupplied market”.&nbsp;SIG’s Pakenham East development, 70km southeast of Melbourne, comprises about 530 lots.&nbsp;It is in the Pakenham East Precinct Structure Plan and sits under the Cardinia Shire Council.&nbsp;The structure plan was devised to support the growth and housing supply in a new 630ha suburb and is projected to support the development of 7229 homes and supporting infrastructure of parks, schools and community centres.It was one of six greenfield sites that <a data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/developers-prep-for-melbournes-newest-suburb-pakenham-east" href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/developers-prep-for-melbournes-newest-suburb-pakenham-east" target="_blank" rel="noopener">were fast-tracked by the Victorian Planning Authority in 2021</a>.Lendlease has also signed on to the Pakenham East project, picking up two rural properties in the area <a data-mce-href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/melbournes-south-east-fueled-by-120m-lendlease-deal" href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/melbournes-south-east-fueled-by-120m-lendlease-deal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">for around $120 million</a>.SIG said that the decision to venture into Pakenham is a response to the limited supply of projects in the area, with only three others available on the market.&nbsp;The group wants to address this undersupply by providing an extensive range of housing options to cater to various target audiences, including first-home buyers, upgraders, and investors.Expressions of interest are due to open in September.

SIG has invested in a 28.2ha site aimed at combating the ‘chronically undersupplied’ market in south-east Melbourne…

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