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As part of its push to ease a myriad of issues plaguing the housing market, the territory government announced that its debut built-to-rent site (BTR) had been released for sale.
Located north of the national capital, the 7,070-square metre BTR site in Turner, selected due to its prime location near the light rail and city centre, is being sold by the Suburban Land Agency via a tender process. A minimum of 15 per cent of the dwellings on site must be affordable rentals to eligible tenants.
Build-to-rent is a popular model designed primarily to improve outcomes in the space by increasing available stock and delivering a large number of properties purpose-built for long-term rental. It is a strategy widely implemented across the country, with initiatives in Western Australia, Queensland, and Victoria recently announced as part of a commitment to combat affordability, diversity and supply constraints.
According to a statement by the ACT government, “Canberra offers the perfect opportunity for built-to-rent, with low vacancy rates, steady revenue generation and a stable workforce.”
CoreLogic’s most recent Quarterly Rental Review, published last week, listed the national capital as the most expensive city to rent in Australia, with a median weekly rent of $682, with vacancy rates sitting at 1.3 per cent.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the Turner project would help “improve housing choice and affordability in our city”, before touching on the investment benefits of such initiatives due to the “ACT tax system [being] supportive of build-to-rent developments where there is no unit titling of the individual dwellings through substantially reduced land tax and general rates”.
Providing further details on the project, Minister for Housing and Suburban Development Yvette Barry explained that the “homes will be specifically designed to meet renters’ needs [and] will increase housing choice as well as diversity across our city”.
She added that “this project complements other housing initiatives outlined in the 2022–23 ACT budget and delivers a key action under the ACT housing strategy”.
As part of the territory’s budget, launched back in August, provisions were introduced to help boost the local housing market, including “a $30 million investment to support the Growing and Renewing Public Housing program”, extra land release, tax reform, and a partnership with the Commonwealth government.
Mr Barr concluded that in pursuit of his government’s goal to see increased uptake of build-to-rent projects in the state, “the ACT government will be pursuing private investment into these projects over the coming years”.
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