Build-to-rent builds momentum
Build-to-rent gathers pace in Australia following the Victorian Government’s announcement of a package of measures to encourage investment in new, large-scale housing for longer-term renting.
Making the announcement on Thursday, Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas said support for build-to-rent (BTR) could “grow our stock of affordable and social housing, expanding housing choices for Victorians”.
The Victorian Government will facilitate planning assessment, establish an industry working group, provide financial support for BTR in community housing and clarify taxation arrangements.
The first BTR approval in Victoria is for a 60-level apartment block on City Road, Southbank, with several further applications to be assessed through a fast-tracked process.
The move has been welcomed by the property industry.
The Property Council’s Victorian executive director, Cressida Wall, says the BTR package followed sustained advocacy on behalf of industry and was “a welcome first step in creating a sector that will deliver high quality rental homes and provide greater security of tenure for Victorians”.
Property Council national president Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz, Mirvac’s CEO and managing director and a strong advocate of BTR, commends the Victorian Government for its “clear and practical support” for a nascent market.
Lloyd-Hurwitz says BTR will “provide greater choice, greater security of tenure and better outcomes for Victorians in the rental market”.
Stockland’s managing director and CEO Mark Steinert also welcomed the clarity and certainty which will “increase confidence and help us to create the best communities across Australia, offering a diverse range of housing options”.
Grocon is also supportive, with the developer’s head of residential, Christian Grahame, stating that BTR “will be a thriving sector in the future, providing housing, community creation, investment and employment for our growing state”.
Chris Key, the Australian managing director for Greystar, a multi-family specialist in the US, says a “repetition of fundamental factors” drive demand for BTR around the world.
“In the case of Australia, we see many of the same fundamental drivers we have witnessed elsewhere but often in a more acute form. As a missing part of our housing continuum, there is arguably a stronger need for build-to-rent here in Australia than almost any other market we operate in globally,” Key explains.
In July, the NSW Government announced its support for a BTR project which could include social and affordable housing.
Meanwhile, Allens has published a new report, Accelerating build-to-rent in Australia, which identifies key barriers, structures for success and lessons we can learn from mature markets.