Queensland considers scrapping compulsory water tanks as housing affordability initiative
The Queensland government is tipped to scrap mandatory water tanks for new homes in a move envisaged to save home buyers about $6,000.
The proposal follows lobbying by the Master Builders Association, according to the Australian Financial Review.
Queensland’s property sector has called on the Newman government to scrap many taxes, including stamp duty for off-the-plan residential sales and the land tax surcharge, to encourage more investment in the state.
The property and construction industry wants the initiatives in the Liberal-National Party government’s first budget next week.
Premier Campbell Newman is meanwhile expected to hail his government’s overhaul of planning laws and red tape when he addresses the property industry at a lunch in Brisbane today, the AFR noted.
The Property Council of Australia’s Queensland executive director, Kathy MacDermott, says although the planning changes are welcome, the sector still bears an unfair proportion of the state’s tax burden, contributing 29% or $3.8?billion to state taxation revenue.
The council seeks the scrapping of stamp duty for off-the-plan residential sales and the former state government’s 0.5% land tax surcharge.
The measures would help encourage more investment, especially from interstate, it suggests.
The mooted water tank decision has angered tank-makers, who since 2007 have installed 130,000 rainwater tanks in homes and 20,000 for commercial premises.
The Rain Harvesting Association of Australia says compulsory tanks have saved about 20 billion litres of water a year.
The association say it has also reduced infrastructure costs by up to $1.4 billion. But Master Builders director Paul Bidwell said the tanks hurt housing affordability, which had taken a hit since the financial crisis.
“We have no issue with rainwater tanks, we just don’t think they ought to be mandatory,” Bidwell says.
A spokesman for Queensland Housing Minister Bruce Flegg says no final decision has been made on whether to change the building code.
