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Less timber, more taxes – a guide on how to make Victoria unattractive for investors and unaffordable for homeowners

Last Friday, Victoria’s minister for housing Richard Wynne announced a new Social and Affordable Housing Contribution (SAHC) for new developments with three dwellings or more. Developers will pay 1.75 per cent of the as-if-complete project value, and the income generated from these “contributions” will go towards the Social Housing Growth Fund.

“Victorians are already dealing with a housing affordability crisis. You can be sure that developers and investors will pass on this tax to homebuyers in the form of higher land and house prices. They carry the burden of stamp duty and other high costs of buying. Adding this scheme of having to subsidise the Big Housing Build is irresponsible”, said Deb Kerr, CEO of the Victorian Forest Products Association.

“Affordable housing for all Victorians is crucial for a fair, wealthy society. But it cannot be the responsibility of homebuyers to shoulder this financial burden on top of exploding house prices.

“Once again, the Andrews Government is making homeowners pay for its election promises. If this Government is serious about growing the state, we need a plan to increase housing affordability and sovereign capabilities that allow us to value-add right here in Victoria. Let’s increase our plantation estate so builders can use homegrown timber. This will support local jobs and lower not only our carbon emissions but the cost of building homes for every Victorian,” Ms Kerr concluded.

 

ENDS

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