The Victorian Government has announced their plans to spend $6 billion on housing initiatives, with the goal of creating jobs, rebooting the economy, and helping Victorians find secure housing.

Several changes will be implemented. Firstly, the 50% stamp duty waiver will be extended to include properties up to $1 million in value. Newly constructed homes will get the full 50% waiver, while existing homes will receive a 25% waiver.

And a scheme that was scheduled to be implemented in 2023 has been fast-tracked. This scheme will see a 50% stamp duty concession implemented for commercial and industrial properties in regional areas.

A new homebuyer scheme was also announced, which will see the Government subsidising a portion of the purchase price of the property in exchange for an equity interest in the property. This subsidy reduces the amount of money that homebuyers need to front up for a deposit.

Land tax on build-to-rent developments will be halved from 2022 through to 2040, and the new dwellings will be exempted from the Absentee Owner Surcharge—this will encourage developers to experiment with build-to-rent developments.

And the biggest announcement is $5.3 billion will be spent on a public housing scheme to construct a total of 12,000 new dwellings.

The Treasurer, Tim Pallas, said it’s a three-for-one investment: “homes for our most vulnerable, jobs in construction, and economic activity.”