Removing stamp duty, supporting foreign investment will boost affordability: UDIA
The Urban Development Institute of Australia has called on government to remove stamp duty on property and support foreign investment into residential real estate, which it says will help boost the supply of land for development and improve housing affordability.
The calls follow the release of the UDIA’s latest State of the Land Report which showed the supply of new development land jumped by 30.8% in 2014 to 50,150 new lots, up from 38,350 lots released in 2013.
UDIA National President Cameron Shephard welcomed the increase but warned governments against complacency on land supply.
“Nationally, Australia still suffers from a marked undersupply of new housing stock, caused by inadequate investment in urban infrastructure, slow planning and approvals systems, and high taxes and charges on new housing supply,” Shephard said.
“Even now, we’re still not building enough new homes to meet underlying demand.”
The UDIA has urged the federal government to:
- Assist state governments with replacing stamp duty on property with other forms of taxation.
- Provide additional funding for investment in new urban infrastructure.
- Link funding for state governments to their performance on key land supply measures.
- Cease plans to shift the cost of providing the National Broadband Network to new home buyers through up front connection, network and backhaul charges.
- Continue to encourage foreign investment into residential real estate, by supporting Australia’s existing foreign investment policy framework.
It has also called for state and local governments to:
- Reform their planning systems to increase the supply of urban land and reduce delays and uncertainty associated with zoning, planning and approvals processes.
- Reduce upfront charges and levies on new housing and to instead recover costs over long time frames.