Key Points
A Rebecca White Labor Government will encourage the development of more apartments and medium-density developments.
After 10 years of the Liberals, young Tasmanians are shut out of the housing market. They’re paying ridiculously high rents and have given up hope of ever owning their own home.
By contrast, Labor will do everything we can to make it easier for people to get a foot in the door of their first home.
Labor has set a target of building 2,000 new apartments within the next 4 years. To achieve this, we will:
- Finalise an Apartment Code to speed up planning approvals
- Reduce stamp duty by 50% for new apartments valued under $750,000
- Get more people trained to work at heights and build apartments
- Purchase up to 20% of new apartment developments for public housing
- Hold councils accountable for their decisions by creating a Planning Dashboard that compares every council’s performance
Prevent needless holdups by implementing a “Three Strikes Rule” for councils
Why we need it
Tasmania used to have the most affordable housing in the country. Now it is one of the most expensive places to live, making the cost of living crisis even worse.
“Labor will do everything we can to make it easier people to get a foot in the door of their first home”
Home ownership was once a key part of the Tasmanian way of life. Now young people fear they’ll never be able to own a home of their own.
Meanwhile, applications to develop apartments languish with Councils or don’t have the certainty to proceed, while thousands of Tasmanians want nothing more than to live in their own home.
If the Liberals haven’t fixed it by now, they never will.
The details
As part of our Plan, Labor will:
- Provide a 50% stamp duty concession for new apartments valued under $750,000, to make apartments more attractive and affordable for buyers.
- Get more apartment developments off the ground by committing to purchase up to 20% of new developments for use as social and government housing. This will provide certainty to apartment builders and help them secure finance for their much-needed projects. We’ll also remove the Liberals’ cap of one supported development per region over the next four years.
- Finalise an Apartment Code to guarantee planning approvals where designs meet agreed standards.
- Implement a “Three Strikes Rule” to prevent councils delaying developments with repeated requests for information.
- Hold councils accountable for their role in approving new apartments and other housing by creating a Planning Dashboard, similar to the existing health and housing dashboards, with mandatory public reporting on the progress of development applications by Councils. We will reward councils that perform well with additional funding for local infrastructure, and name and shame those who contribute to the housing crisis by blocking new developments.
- Get more people trained to build apartments, by providing a two-year funding extension for the Master Builders Association’s Hi-Vis Army training program. This program will include a strong focus on helping Tasmanians get Working at Heights qualifications.