The Property Council of Australia hopes that the Albanese Government will give the same level of focus to nationwide housing and planning as it has with its approach to migration.
The decision to increase skilled migration has been welcomed by the Council, but is concerned about the issue of housing supply.
“Reviewing the budget: growing our national skills base to keep the economy firing, tick, build-to-rent housing, tick, cities policy, tick, energy efficiency incentives, tick. Investment in housing, question mark,” says Property Council Chief Executive Mike Zorbas.
“Skilled migrants have been central to Australia’s economic success story for generations, filling critical job vacancies in important sectors, and making valuable contributions both economically and socially.
“The population growth outlined in this budget highlights the need for faster and better housing delivery and planning across our cities. The Senate should strongly consider passing the government’s Housing Australia Future Fund this week to end current delays in delivering 40,000 new social and affordable homes across the nation.
“We also note the game-changing investment in the energy performance of Australian homes, which will help households slash energy bills and help the country reach its net zero goals.”
The Council has also endorsed the $1.3 billion investment into home energy efficiency and the focus on city planning as outlined within the National Urban Policy.
The reduction of the Managed Investment Trust withholding tax rate to 15 percent for build-to-rent housing is something Zorbas is delighted with.
“The government’s decision to level the tax playing field for build-to-rent projects is a significant one, unlocking up to 150,000 new homes to relieve pressure in the rental market,” he says.
“Build-to-rent housing, like purpose-built student accommodation and retirement living, is an important part of the national housing equation and provides tenants with long-term security of tenure, superior amenities, and professionally managed properties.”
The Commonwealth Rent Assistance initiative has been met with Council approval, but are concerned about changes to Thin Capitalisation rules which will unintentionally reduce much needed investment in new Australian housing. Zorbas says there are flaws in the legislation and hopes to converse with government about the need to preserve private investment into the property industry.
“The unintended consequences of changes to the ‘thin capitalisation’ investment rules risk undoing the good work that the Treasurer and Housing Minister are seeking to deliver on housing, including hampering the emerging build-to-rent asset class which is necessarily reliant on capital partnering and third-party construction financing,” he says.
