More homes for a growing Victoria

At a glance

Victoria is growing. Melbourne is on track to reach the size of London by 2050, when almost 9 million people will call our city home.

But we can’t just continue to build out. We need a long-term plan to build more homes in connected communities – close to jobs, transport and services.

It’s why we’ve cut red tape in the planning system, opened up government land for new homes, and sped up the renewal of our social housing.

This Budget continues that work– unlocking planning, reducing the cost of purchasing off-the-plan apartments, units and townhouses, and building new homes faster.

Continuing the stamp duty concession for off-the-plan townhouses and apartments

More apartments, units, and townhouses being built means more homes for young people and families to rent or buy.

It’s why this Budget delivers $61 million to extend the stamp duty concession announced in October 2024, slashing stamp duty on eligible off-the-plan apartments, units and townhouses until October 2026.

Prior to October 2024, the concession was only available to first-home buyers and owner occupiers – and even then, eligibility was capped based on value.

By continuing the concession, we’ll boost housing construction by:

• Enabling anyone buying an eligible apartment, unit or townhouse off-the-plan to claim the concession – not just first-home buyers and owner occupiers.
• Removing the threshold so the concession is available for apartments, units and townhouses of any value.

A Victorian using this concession who buys an apartment off-the-plan before any construction work starts could pay around $28,000 less stamp duty on a $620,000 apartment – with duty slashed from around $32,000 to around $4,000.

Unlocking more homes

More homes mean more opportunity. But where they’re built matters.

We’ve identified a further 50 activity centres around train and tram stops that will help an extra 300,000 homes be delivered in metropolitan Melbourne by 2051.

Building diverse housing choices in established suburbs – close to jobs, transport and services – will mean Victorians aren’t forced to move away from the communities they grew up in to find a home, or move away from their community when they want to downsize.

To make sure we get the planning right – this Budget invests $24 million to deliver new planning controls for these activity centres, giving certainty to communities and industry about how these places will grow over the coming decades.

But living in the inner or middle suburbs isn’t for every family.

This Budget invests a further $12 million to unlock more greenfield land for new homes with backyards. Over the next decade, our greenfields plan aims to progressively unlock 180,000 more homes in new suburbs across Melbourne’s outer south-east, north and west.

Whether it’s a townhouse in the city or a house with a backyard in the suburbs, we want to help more Victorians find their home.

Delivering Australia’s biggest housing project – the Suburban Rail Loop

The Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) will completely transform our city and state, joining up every major metropolitan train line and connecting homes, jobs and services from Cheltenham in the south-east to Werribee in the west.

Major works have begun, with tunnel boring machines arriving this year and tunnelling expected to start in 2026.

But the SRL is so much more than a train line. It’s Australia’s biggest housing project.

The first stage alone will support more than 70,000 new homes over the next 30 years.

The SRL will ensure that as our city and state grow, Melbourne and Victoria remain the best place to live and work.

Building homes faster

We’re not just building new homes – we’re helping build them faster.

Working in partnership with the Commonwealth, this Budget allocates a further $249 million to enable infrastructure works – such as roads, sewerage and water – that increase housing supply across the state.

Overall, this investment is helping fast-track the delivery of approximately 4,000 homes, including more than 1,300 in regional Victoria.

At least 10% of this funding will be directed towards First Nations’ housing outcomes, and regional Victoria will receive over $88 million.

A further $50 million investment will establish a Future of Housing Construction TAFE Centre of Excellence at Melbourne Polytechnic.

Delivered in partnership with the Commonwealth, the Centre will train workers in modern construction technologies, including modular and prefabrication, enabling the delivery of faster, cost-effective homes.

Homelessness support

Too many Victorians are missing out on the safety and security of a home.

This Budget invests an extra $61 million to help people experiencing homelessness find a permanent place to live.

This includes funding for outreach teams supporting rough sleepers and helping more Aboriginal Victorians experiencing homelessness get access to self-determined and culturally appropriate support.