Having applications sitting in the system doesn’t get homes built. We’ll begin the work to clear the backlog of 1,400 housing permit applications that have been stuck with councils for more than six months. We’ll have a dedicated team that works with project proponents, local councils, and referral agencies to resolve issues delaying council decision-making – to avoid projects ending up in VCAT and to get homes built. Once we have a clearer picture of projects and if decisions keep lagging, then the Minister for Planning won't hesitate to call them in.

We’ll make sure big decisions are made faster by expanding Victoria’s Development Facilitation Program. This will make the Minister for Planning the decision maker for significant residential developments that include affordable housing. We’ll streamline the planning process for medium to high density residential developments that meet the set criteria: construction costs worth at least $50 million in Melbourne or $15 million in regional Victoria, and delivering at least 10 per cent affordable housing. This will include new build-to-rent projects. It’ll mean around 13,200 additional homes will be brought to market that would otherwise be delayed – and it’ll cut application timeframes for these types of projects from more than 12 months down to four.

We’ll introduce clear planning controls to deliver an additional 60,000 homes around an initial 10 activity centres across Melbourne: Broadmeadows, Camberwell Junction, Chadstone, Epping, Frankston, Moorabbin, Niddrie (Keilor Road), North Essendon, Preston (High Street) and Ringwood. Activity centre plans will guide investment in the things a growing suburb needs like community facilities, public spaces and parks. The program will also consider the best way to incentivise more affordable housing.

Small second homes on the same lot – also known as granny flats or dwelling garden units – have become more and more popular. They can give families the space to grow together, provide a critical second income, or give kids somewhere to stay when they visit for the weekend. But for many, the burden of getting a planning approval has put building a second small home in the too hard basket. We’ll make it easier to build a second small home on your property. Dwelling garden units won’t require a planning permit, if they’re less than 60 square metres. And we’ll also introduce more permit exemptions for single dwellings for things like extensions to sheds and carports.

We’ll streamline assessment pathways with a range of new Deemed to Comply residential standards for different types of homes. Council planners will be able to quickly approve permits for houses that meet the residential standards – like how much space homes take up on a block, or how much storage a home has – meaning councils will only assess aspects of a permit that don’t comply with those standards.

We’ll expand the Future Homes program to encourage more new builds. Future Homes provides four sets of ready-made architectural designs which can be purchased by developers and adapted to a site through a streamlined planning process. We’ll create more high-quality designs for 4 and 5 storey developments, and we’ll expand the areas where they can be used.

We’ll also make changes to the types of homes that require planning permits. Single dwellings on lots bigger than 300 square metres, and not covered by an overlay, will no longer require a planning permit. Single dwellings on lots smaller than 300 square metres, where an overlay doesn’t exist, will be ticked off within 10 days.

We’ll introduce legislative reforms to strengthen our planning system. The legislation will implement Red Tape Commissioner recommendations, as well as other reforms like giving VCAT the power to dismiss matters without a prospect of success and imposing time limits on submissions. Planning Panels will also be able to undertake hearings on the papers and join parties.

The Property Council of Australia (PCA) and City of Melbourne have identified close to 80 commercial office buildings that are currently under-used because of changing work patterns and demand for flexible floor space increasing. We’ll work with the PCA and the City to consider opportunities to facilitate the conversion of these offices into around 10,000-12,000 apartments and mixed-use properties.

As our towns and cities grow, utility connections – like water and electricity – need to happen quickly. We’ll work to speed up water connections in greenfield areas to get Victorians into their new homes faster. We’ll revise our statement of expectations to water corporations, strengthening the need to engage with developers and local councils early and regularly through the permit process – and setting clear timelines these water corporations need to meet to connect new communities to the essential services they rely on.

To give industry greater certainty, the Department of Transport and Planning will bolster its resources in the coming months – including by bringing on 90 new planners – to help with a range of priorities like clearing the backlog, making good decisions faster and increasing housing choice in activity centres.

Institutional investors – larger entities like superannuation funds or insurance companies – can play a critical role in housing supply. These entities have already shown their appetite to invest in long-term, stable rental properties and build-to-sell developments. We’ll establish an Institutional Investment Framework, creating a dedicated planning pathway and one-stop shop for these investors – attracting more investment at scale in social, affordable, key worker and market homes.

A landmark precinct in central Melbourne, Arden will be a globally recognised destination for bio-medical and health sciences. Arden is an urban renewal precinct set to transform into a thriving community and a new home for Melbourne’s growing technology, life science, health and education sectors. Just 2 kilometres from the centre of Melbourne’s CBD, Arden is a central and connected precinct which will be home to up to 34,000 jobs and around 20,000 people by 2051.

We’ll commence a market search for proposals to activate the Arden Precinct ahead of the Arden Metro Tunnel train station opening earlier in 2025. Our intention is to partner with the private sector, industry and investors to start delivering the Arden precinct – with quality and affordable housing to support diverse residents and key workers, including affordable build to rent, build to sell, shared equity and key worker housing.

Saving for a deposit is taking longer, and getting harder. In the early 2000s, it took a typical Victorian household 3.6 years to save a deposit for a house. Today, it takes an average of 6.2 years. We’ll release another $500 million from the Victorian Homebuyer Fund, putting home ownership within reach for more Victorians. This additional funding will support around 3,000 more Victorians into a home through a shared equity model.

The Fund provides eligible participants with a contribution of up to 25 per cent of the purchase price of the home, with participants contributing a minimum of 5 per cent of the purchase price. Since the Fund started in October 2021, we’ve supported 4,251 settlements with $1.07 billion – including many Victorians who have found it particularly tough to get into the housing market. From the existing program, half of participants are women, more than half are single people, and two-thirds are first home buyers.

Victoria has zero tolerance for real estate agents and sellers who flout the rules. We’ll crack down on dodgy real estate agents by introducing tougher penalties for those who break the law, including taking commissions away from agents who underquote on properties. It’ll mean more protections for Victorians looking for a home, and the majority of agents who do the right thing won’t be unfairly disadvantaged by those who break the law to get ahead.

We’ve heard from institutional investors and the private sector that they need more clarity and certainty when it comes to under-used and surplus government land, in order to guide their investments. We’ll unlock and rezone surplus government land to deliver around 9,000 homes across 45 sites in both metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria. As part of this work, we’ll set a target of at least 10 per cent of affordable homes to be built across these sites.

With more and more Victorians choosing to live in apartments, they should be the best they can be – with liveability and wellbeing front and centre. We’ve already strengthened Victoria’s apartment design standards, with previous reforms improving the internal and external design of new builds. But we know there’s more to do, so we’ll strengthen the existing standards to make sure they deliver the variety of homes Victorians want into the future. Our clear new standards will ensure appealing, comfortable, sustainable, and fit-for-purpose homes.

While short stay accommodation – like Airbnb or Stayz – has become a popular feature of Victoria’s visitor economy, it’s also reduced the ability for many properties to be used for longer term accommodation. In Victoria, there are more than 36,000 short stay accommodation places – with almost half of these in regional Victoria. More than 29,000 of those places are entire homes. These are places that cannot be used for longer-term accommodation or rented out on fixed term agreements – so it makes sense that they should provide some benefit toward the places that can.

We’ll introduce a levy on short stay accommodation platforms. The Short Stay Levy will be set at 7.5 per cent of the short-stay accommodation platforms’ revenue. And the revenue raised from the levy will go to Homes Victoria, supporting their work building and maintaining social and affordable housing across the state, with 25 per cent of funds to be invested in regional Victoria. This also means other local council charges on short stay accommodation will be removed.

We’ll bring forward a $400 million package of works along growth corridors – providing the basic infrastructure that will make a difference on the ground to new and growing communities. Drawing from the Growth Areas Public Transport Fund and Building New Communities Fund, we’ll look at priority projects where they’re needed most for things like toilets, shelter and lighting upgrades at bus stops and train stations, footpaths and cycling paths.

We know we need to increase opportunities for homes in Melbourne’s inner and middle suburbs. At the same time, a home in our newest suburbs and regional cities will continue to be an attractive choice for many households. Growth areas will remain important – and we’ll need to support that growth in our suburbs while building the transport and infrastructure to connect people to jobs and services. The Victorian Planning Authority will continue preparing Precinct Structure Plans (PSPs) for new housing and jobs in Melbourne and regional Victoria. Further work across 21 priority projects will continue to be developed to deliver more than 60,000 homes and 60,000 jobs. They’ll deliver a sustainable supply of greenfield land, and more jobs close to home, while we plan for more housing choice in all parts of Victoria.

Regional Victoria

• Wonthaggi PSP
• Ballarat Infrastructure Growth Alignment Framework
• Shepparton South East PSP
• Corio Norlane Urban Renewal
• Bannockburn South East PSP
• East of Aberline PSP
• Ballarat North PSP

Industrial Land

• Officer South (Employment) PSP
• Greater Avalon (Employment) PSP
• Casey Fields South (Employment) PSP
• Croskell (Employment) PSP
• Merrifield North (due diligence only)
• Mambourn East (due diligence only)
• Werribee Junction (due diligence only)

Established Melbourne

• Braybrook Regeneration Project
• Melbourne New Communities
• Beveridge North West PSP
• Gunns Gully Road Interchange GAIC WIK
• Greenvale North (Part 2) PSP
• Devon Meadows PSP
• Melton East PSP
• Clyde South (due diligence only)

The Department of Transport and Planning is leading the whole-of-government delivery and coordination of Priority Precincts such as Arden, Docklands, Fishermans Bend, Footscray, East Werribee, Parkville and Sunshine.

We want to create places where people have vibrant, liveable and sustainable communities, affordable housing and quality jobs which help to grow Victoria’s economy. Our priority precincts will capitalise on the benefits of major infrastructure investments to support thriving communities and encourage further investment.

We’ll restrict rent increases between successive fixed-term leases, cracking down on an emerging trend which has seen some landlords evict tenants at the end of their first fixed-term lease in order raise the rent substantially when re-listing the rental property. If agents or landlords are issuing a new lease after they’ve evicted previous tenants on their first fixed-term one, they’ll have to offer the property at the same rent for at least 12 months. It’ll reduce the incentive for landlords to churn through renters by evicting them, and give renters more certainty over their living arrangements.

In 2021, we made it illegal for real estate agents or landlords to solicit or encourage higher offers than the advertised price of a rental property. But a tight rental market with vacancy rates at record lows has put an incredible amount of pressure on prospective tenants. More and more, we’re seeing people make their own unsolicited bids – either to pay more weekly rent or to pay more than four weeks in advance – to try and give their applications a competitive edge. We’ll level the playing field for renters by closing this loophole and banning all types of rental bidding for good. We’ll make it an offence to accept bids, and introduce tougher penalties for agents and landlords who break the law.

With more people in Victoria renting than ever before, it’s inevitable that the number of rental disputes has increased, too. Often, a rental dispute can be just one of a range of cost of living pressures a renter could be facing. And when that happens, a quick resolution can make a world of difference. But you shouldn’t have to end up at VCAT to have simple repairs done, or to get the money you’re owed. VCAT should be a last resort for tenants and landlords, not the first stop. We’ll establish Rental Dispute Resolution Victoria, providing a one-stop shop for renters, agents and landlords to resolve tenancy disputes over rent, damages, repairs and bonds. It’ll have a clear pathway to settle issues in a faster, fairer and cheaper way – freeing up VCAT for more serious or complicated matters.

Anyone who’s ever moved house knows costs can add up, quickly. And when you’re between homes, every dollar counts. We’ll build a portable rental bond scheme, where tenants can carry their rental bond from one property straight over to another – rather than having to pay a new bond each time. It’ll ease the financial burden on tenants, who won’t have to fork out a substantial amount of money every time they move – or wait until they’ve got their old bond back to pay their new one. It’ll streamline the administrative process for agents and property managers, who handle dozens of rentals at any one time. And it’ll create a more efficient rental market – which is good news for both renters and landlords.

Rent increases and eviction notices can be incredibly distressing. Some renters facing increases may not be able to afford to stay where they are, and be forced to change their housing situation altogether. Evicted renters have to quickly figure out their next steps – including finding a new place to live, budgeting, packing, and coordinating logistics – all while dealing with the emotional stress of their changing situation. For families with children, eviction notices can be particularly traumatic. We’ll give renters more certainty, and ease the stress evicted renters face, by extending notice of rent increases and notice to vacate periods to 90 days.

Every real estate transaction involves significant financial investments and legal complexities, and renters often rely on agents to provide accurate information and advice. We’ll introduce mandatory continuing professional development for real estate industry professionals – including agents, property managers, conveyancers and owners corporation managers. It’ll mean better skills for real estate workers, encourage ethical conduct across the industry, and give renters the peace of mind they deserve.

Applying for a rental property should be a fast, fair, straightforward process. But the reality is many renters – who usually apply for more than one property at a time – can face a field of different demands for information, records or documents just so they can secure a place to live. We’ll standardise rental applications, saving renters time and giving them a clear idea of what they can expect to be asked for during the application process. We’ll also limit the kind of information agents or landlords can keep on file, and how long they can keep it for, better protecting renters’ privacy and data.

Right now, around 5 per cent of Victorian households are facing serious renting stress – meaning they’re at risk of being evicted because they can’t afford to pay their rent. There are a range of organisations who work tirelessly to prevent homelessness and help renters stay in their homes, providing legal assistance, financial information and advice, and advocacy services. We’ll back their critical work for Victorians in need by delivering a $2 million Rental Stress Support Package through the Victorian Property Fund. The package will help address the high demand for rental assistance these organisations are seeing, while we work to boost social, affordable and market housing supply across the state.

Melbourne’s high-rise public housing towers were built after World War II, between the 1950s and 1970s. They’re reaching the end of their useful lives, and no longer fit for modern living. Constructed at a time that pre-dates current building codes, the towers no longer meet the minimum standards Victorians expect – including many of Victoria’s Better Apartment Design Standards.

The towers fail against noise, sustainability, waste and recycling, bedroom area dimensions, room depth, ventilation, private open space, accessibility and minimum amenity standards. Substantial investment would be needed to retrofit the towers. But even then, their design means that many tower homes would never be able to meet contemporary codes, nationwide energy rating schemes or accessibility needs for many households.

We’ll launch Australia’s biggest ever urban renewal project: retiring and redeveloping all of Melbourne’s 44 ageing high-rise public housing estates by 2051.

Not only will the redevelopment mean households will move into a new home that meets every modern building standard – it’ll boost the overall number of social homes across these sites by 10 per cent, while also boosting the number of affordable and market homes across the sites. There are currently around 10,000 people living across the 44 towers. Once we’ve redeveloped them, we anticipate around 30,000 people will live across these sites.

On top of our Big Housing Build, we’ll build up to 769 new social housing homes over the next five years with funding from the Commonwealth Government’s Social Housing Accelerator. Announced in June this year, the Social Housing Accelerator is a $2 billion investment in new social homes across Australia, with $496.5 million provided for new homes across Victoria. We’ll use this funding to build 769 new homes including low density developments on Homes Victoria owned land, as well as medium and high density developments on Victorian Government owned land. We’ll also examine site spot purchases we can make across the state for further developments. This funding will support the redevelopment of the two towers in Carlton.

We’ll invest $1 billion in the Affordable Housing Investment Partnership (AHIP) program, providing low interest loans and government guarantees to finance social and affordable housing for Victorians that need it most – including projects that provide affordable housing for essential and key workers. The new AHIP expands on the previous Building Financial Capacity of Housing Agencies (BFCHA) initiative, bringing the total funding available up to $2.1 billion. This is the first time that government low interest loans and government guarantees are available in Victoria for affordable housing as well as social housing.

Developers need a certain level of apartment pre-sales before a housing project can commence construction – which can often add delays to new projects kicking off. We'll explore opportunities to buy pre-sale off-the-plan apartments in medium and high density developments to boost Victoria’s social housing stock. We’ll consult with industry on opportunities to buy at scale through spot purchasing. And we’ll buy directly from project proponents, making sure we don’t reduce stock in the market.

When a development project is finished, there are often a small number of units that don’t end up being sold or leased. This means there could be as many as several thousand apartments left empty right now that could make a home for someone. Industry feedback suggests there may be opportunities for long-term headleases of these leftover apartments at social housing rental rates to support families who need social and affordable housing. We'll call for expressions of interest to test market appetite to add some of these apartments to our supply of affordable housing and help reduce the waiting list. The approach to market is not intended to subsidise developers beyond current social housing rental arrangements, or affect Homes Victoria’s financial position.

We’ll update Plan Melbourne – the Victorian Government’s current metropolitan planning strategy spanning 2017-2050 – and expand it to cover the whole state. A new plan for Victoria will set into action what our state will look like over coming decades. It’ll focus on delivering more homes near transport, job opportunities and essential services in vibrant, liveable, and sustainable neighbourhoods.

A new plan for Victoria will bring to life our target for 70 per cent of new homes to be built in established areas, while making sure growth areas deliver 30 per cent of new homes. We will establish local government targets for where those homes will be built. The plan will set our regions and rural areas up to thrive. We’ll kick off initial industry consultation in the coming months, with broad and comprehensive community engagement to ramp up at the start of next year.

We’ll review and rewrite the Planning and Environment Act 1987 to build a modern, fit-for-purpose planning system. We’ll look to establish and clarify timeframes for decisions, as well as looking at the roles and responsibilities of everyone involved in our planning system – including councils, the Minister for Planning, the Victorian Planning Authority and the Department of Transport and Planning.

We’re investing $150 million in a Regional Worker Accommodation Fund to provide new housing options for regional communities where key workers are struggling to find affordable places to live. The package will make regional workers’ jobs more secure and make it easier for businesses to find and keep staff. We’ll consult regional employers, workers, housing providers and councils on the program design to ensure it meets the needs of the local communities.

Our $5.3 billion Big Housing Build is Australia’s biggest ever investment in public and community housing. It’s delivering more than 12,000 social and affordable homes across Victoria – including more than 9,300 social homes. As part of the Big Housing Build, 25% of these homes will be delivered in regional Victoria – a $1.25 billion investment in regional housing.

By expanding Victoria’s Development Facilitation Program, we’ll boost critical housing supply in regional Victoria. We’ll streamline the planning process for significant regional housing developments which are worth at least $15 million and deliver at least 10% affordable housing, including build-to-rent projects.

The revenue raised following the introduction of a Short Stay Levy will go to Homes Victoria, supporting their work building and maintaining social and affordable housing across the state. To make sure our regions get their fair share, 25% of funds from the Short Stay Levy will be invested in regional Victoria.