The Victorian government is expected to fast-track planning decisions for developments valued at more than $50m that include a portion of affordable housing and offer stronger protections for renters under policy overhaul to be announced on Wednesday.
Three industry sources briefed on the Andrews government’s housing statement have told Guardian Australia it will include plans to make rent bidding an offence, ban landlords from raising rents for 12 months after asking the previous tenant to vacate, and move to bypass councils to speed up major developments.
It is also expected to include an expansion of the government’s development facilitation program, which will speed up the approvals process from up to two years to four months.
Under the proposal, detailed in a chapter of the statement dubbed “good decisions made faster”, planning applications for developments valued at over $50m in Melbourne and $15m in regional Victoria will be assessed as part of the development facilitation program rather than by local governments, provided they include at least 10% affordable housing.
The housing can either be sold to providers or directly to eligible Victorians.
If a developer doesn’t want to include a portion of affordable housing – but wants to benefit from the faster approval process – they must gift at least 3% of their build’s total value to the Victorian government agency, Homes Victoria, which will then be spent on social housing.
Once a project is approved by development facilitation program, third parties will be unable to appeal against the decision, which will prevent costly battles with councils and resident groups in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (Vcat).
The premier, Daniel Andrews, on Monday blamed local councils and Vcat for the slow pace of planning approvals in the state. He said councillors would often “refuse to make [a] decision”, forcing developers to take the matter to court.
“So then you blink and you look around, and suddenly Vcat, who were elected by nobody, are planning our city. How’s that a good idea? How’s that an accountable way of doing things?” he told ABC Radio Melbourne.
The initiative – among several others detailed in the housing statement – are expected to lead to the construction of up to 800,00 new homes in the next decade, increasing to 2.2m by 2051.
According to industry sources briefed on the housing statement, there’s also a chapter dedicated to several new protections for renters, including rental bidding becoming an offence and a portable bond scheme – measures that have previously been announced in New South Wales. Victoria will also increase the minimum period for notices to vacate, from 60 to 90 days.
A landlord will also be unable to increase rent for new tenants within 12 months of issuing a notice to vacate to previous tenants. A new rental dispute resolution agency will also be set up to handle issues between landlords and tenants.
Andrews on Tuesday said while not everyone would agree on the contents of the statement, it would deliver more housing supply to the state, bringing downward pressure on prices.
“We’ll have a very big downpayment on what we want our housing market to look like by the middle of this century and we’ll make some announcements quite soon about that,” he said.
“They will be bold, they will be common sense and they will mean more houses get built because nothing’s more important than that. More houses means lower prices, more power and choice for consumers and better outcomes for all of us.”
The premier also provided his strongest indication to date that a levy on short-stay rentals such as Airbnb would be included in the statement, confirming the policy was to be discussed at a special cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
“If adopted, the levy would be the first statewide tax of its kind in Australia,” Andrews said.
The government’s signature $5.3bn “big housing build”, which is due to wrap up in 2024, is also expected to be redesigned, with the government to build and upgrade more social housing across the state with contributions from their federal counterparts. This is could include several of the state’s ageing high-rise towers, with tenants to be briefed in the coming days.
The statement will also explore whether its feasible to convert under-utilised commercial buildings in the CBD to apartments and allow super funds to become affordable housing providers.
