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The ACT government is seeking additional build-to-rent proposals across the territory.
Following the release of a similar project, located in Turner, for sale last month, the ACT government has again moved to boost housing supply through the popular build-to-rent (BTR) model.
Citing a 5,000-person population growth across the next five years, taking the total population of the territory to 500,000, the government announced plans to increase the number of available dwellings to 30,000 during that time.
As a result, it is inviting “proposals from developers, build-to-rent operators, and community housing providers to provide affordable rental dwellings as part of an existing or planned build-to-rent development,” according to a government statement.
“Our plan includes more public housing, more social housing, more affordable properties, more rental properties, more urban infill developments, and more greenfield developments.”
The plan is the most substantial housing commitment in the ACT’s history, with tunnel vision to deliver more housing options for Canberrans.
Proposed projects would “need to be rented at less than market rent under an agreement for at least 15 years to households who meet income-based eligibility criteria”, while “the Request for Proposal process will consider financial assistance and tax concessions for build-to-rent developments where at least 15 per cent of dwellings (and a minimum of 10 dwellings) are rented as affordable rental tenancies”.
Build-to-rent projects are a critical component of the ACT Housing Strategy announced in 2018, cited as a strategy to realise objective 4B of the strategy — “grow the supply of affordable private rental properties”.
The ACT government’s latest project further symbolises the increased popularity of the build-to-rent sector, which has seen approximately $3.5 billion raised and committed to the sector since 2021’s beginning.
Earlier this month, reports surfaced that the sector was set to receive $1.5 billion in foreign investment from Hines and Cadillac Fairview, with Chiang Ling Ng, chief investment officer for Asia at Hines, acknowledging “[the] Australian BTR [sector] as one of the most exciting growth opportunities in Asia”.
In addition to the ACT’s projects, the Victorian government earlier this year announced increased construction on a similar project in Brighton, where 151 social houses and 148 market rental homes would be built. Moreover, the West Australian government also moved to facilitate increased housing supply in Perth via a build-to-rent project in Smith street.
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