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New legislation to accelerate build-to-rent (BTR) housing has been stalled after a Senate committee report saw “entrenched political positions” hamper good faith dialogue.
In June 2024, two national bills on BTR housing – the Treasury Laws Amendment (Build to Rent) Bill 2024 and the Capital Works (Build to Rent Misuse Tax) Bill 2024 – were referred to a Senate committee for further enquiry.
The two bills would provide tax incentives to construct more BTR housing, while also imposing harsher consequences for eligibility non-compliance.
However, the response to the proposed legislation was deeply divided between parties. While the committee recommended that the bills be passed, a dissenting report from the Coalition recommended that the bills not be passed on the grounds that they would stratify institutional investment and would “do nothing to address the supply crisis”.
A dissenting report from the Greens recommended that the bills not be passed unless amendments were made, such as ensuring genuine affordability and increasing tenancy protections; while additional comments from independent senator David Pocock recommended the bills be passed with adjustments to the MIT withholding rate.
Without the support of the Coalition and the Greens, there is no clear route for the bills to become law, putting further action on hold.
In a joint statement by the Property Council of Australia (PCA), National Shelter, and the Community Housing Industry Association (CHIA), spokespeople expressed dissatisfaction with the responses.
“It is disappointing the committee couldn’t find common ground in the middle of a national housing supply crisis,” said PCA CEO Mike Zorbas.
Continuing, he said: “There is no cheaper, better way available to the Parliament to add 105,000 new homes to our national supply over the next decade.
“For sheer new housing supply, the compromise proposal beats the welcome 40,000 from Housing Australia Future Fund hands down.”
In Zorbas’ opinion, the report demonstrated that the legislation “clearly cannot pass without further negotiations”.
Analysis from EY projected that the new legislation could create an additional 105,000 new rental homes – homes that the housing alliance fear will be lost if a consensus is not reached.
“There was an opportunity in this report to make recommendations that would enable a steady pipeline of genuinely affordable rental housing for nurses, disability care workers and staff working in the retail industry, all at very little extra cost to government,” said CHIA CEO Wendy Hayhurst.
Emma Greenhalgh, CEO of National Shelter, added: “There was a real opportunity through this inquiry to consider amendments to the legislation to make renting in Australia a much better experience for tenants.”
“We do not have the luxury in a national housing crisis to continue to waste opportunities to work together to deliver a range of housing solutions for our communities,” she concluded.
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