Housing for all Australians is one of the biggest challenges we face.
Today, if you’re a household earning a median income of $105,000, you could likely only afford around 13 per cent of homes on the market. For low and middle income families, a household earning $64,000 a year could now afford just 3 per cent of homes on the market.
The status quo is not an option and addressing housing supply is key to this. The Victorian Government is taking action to meet this challenge with a number of initiatives set out in Victoria’s Housing Statement and through a new plan for Victoria.
As part of the Victorian Government’s housing strategy planning system initiatives and reforms will be introduced to help address our housing challenges. These initiatives and reforms will help ensure housing supply can meet demand and facilitate the supply of more social housing and other affordable housing.
Read more about Victoria’s Housing Statement
We are developing a new plan for Victoria to reimagine the future of our cities, suburbs, towns, and regions. This will bring to life our target for 70 per cent of new homes to be built in established areas, while making sure growth areas deliver 30 per cent of new homes.
Our engagement with the broader community is underway. We know that every suburb and every community across Victoria is unique. That’s why we are travelling to all corners of the state to bring the discussion to you where you live, work, study, play sport and gather for events and celebrations.
To get our blueprint right we need to talk about and imagine our future cities, suburbs, towns and regions. We need to hear your ideas and experiences to make sure we develop a plan that is for the whole state. Your input will help us to make decisions about the best places to locate new homes, green spaces, jobs, education, transport and health services across Victoria.
Visit Engage Victoria to find out about ways to get involved and events near you.
New projects take more time if there are planning delays. The supply of housing slows down and planning is more expensive.
The Development Facilitation Program has been expanded as part of Victoria’s Housing Statement. The program includes a streamlined assessment pathway for medium and high density residential projects that provide opportunities for affordable housing. Application timeframes for eligible projects is reduced from more than 12 months down to four.
For further information, including eligibility criteria and affordable housing delivery requirements, read more about the Development Facilitation Program.
The Department of Transport and Planning is leading the whole-of-government delivery and coordination of priority precincts such as Arden, Docklands, Fishermans Bend, Footscray, East Werribee, Parkville and Sunshine.
We want to create places where people have vibrant, liveable and sustainable communities, affordable housing and quality jobs which help to grow Victoria’s economy.
We are working with the Victorian Planning Authority (VPA) to deliver more homes close to services, jobs, and transport in 10 activity centres across Melbourne.
Working with local councils and community, this program will enable the delivery of an estimated 60,000 homes through a review of building heights and design requirements, and changes to existing rules to support appropriate development.
The Department of Transport and Planning is identifying more opportunities for affordable housing across Victoria through better utilisation of surplus government land. Through the Land Coordinator General and the Government Land Planning Service the Victorian Government is establishing partnerships with private sector developers to deliver new housing opportunities in areas close to transport, jobs and services.
As announced in Victoria’s Housing Statement, we are working to unlock and rezone surplus government land to deliver around 9,000 homes across 45 sites in both metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria.
At least 10 per cent of affordable homes will be built across these sites.
In metropolitan Melbourne's greenfield areas, there are around 375,000 lots remaining, equating to between 19 and 23 years of supply. For the major regional cities, there are significant areas of greenfield residential land available in Geelong and Ballarat.
Read about our Urban Development Program.
The Planning and Environment Act 1987 (the Act) includes an objective ‘to facilitate the provision of affordable housing in Victoria.’
Affordable housing is housing, including social housing, that is appropriate for the needs of very low-, low- and moderate-income households.
A Governor in Council Order forms part of the definition of affordable housing under the Act. The Order specifies the income ranges for very low, low and moderate-income households for affordable housing that is not social housing. A Ministerial Notice specifies matters relevant to determining whether affordable housing is appropriate. The income ranges specified in the Order can be found below.
There is a growing desire among local councils to apply affordable housing provisions as part of both rezoning land, and permit applications in major developments. Local councils and developers are increasingly proposing new and innovative ways to deliver social housing and other forms of affordable housing.
These proposals include ways to harness the substantial increase in land value that can come from rezoning and other planning controls to deliver a community benefit such as affordable housing.
A Section 173 Agreement can be entered into for a range of outcomes, including affordable housing.
An example Section 173 Agreement has been developed to assist in the facilitation of negotiations for affordable housing provision. It is not mandatory to use any part of the example agreement.
Parties to a voluntary Section 173 agreement should refer to the Specified Matters under Section 3AA(2) – Ministerial Notice to determine whether the affordable housing they are negotiating is appropriate for the needs of very low, low and moderate income households. You can download a copy of the Notice.
A Responsible Authority must discharge its responsibilities fairly and reasonably. A Responsible Authority first needs to establish a strategic basis for requesting a Section 173 Agreement and can then seek to include a condition requiring a Section 173 Agreement for the provision of affordable housing on a planning permit.
The Responsible Authority should have evidence to support the condition, ensuring that it is defendable at VCAT should the applicant lodge an application for review. In most cases, a Responsible Authority is a local council, and a strategic basis could be made in a Housing Strategy that identifies the relevant housing requirements that need to be addressed within a defined location.
To ensure development feasibility and fairness, any affordable housing requirement secured through a planning permit condition for a Section 173 Agreement should be identified early and by agreement with the applicant.
A selection of planning scheme clauses that facilitate affordable housing are shown, this list is not exhaustive. A range of approaches are evident, where affordable housing contributions or section 173 agreements are mandated, these have been negotiated and agreed with landowners as part of a planning scheme amendment.
| Council planning scheme | Planning scheme clause |
|---|---|
| Bayside -municipal wide | |
| Darebin – Preston Market Precinct | Schedule 1 to Clause 37.08 Activity Centre Zone |
| Glen Eira – East Village | Schedule 2 to Comprehensive Development Zone |
| Kingston – Former Kingswood Golf Course | Schedule 8 to Clause 43.04 Development Plan Overlay |
| Melbourne – West Melbourne | |
| Melbourne – Arden Precinct | |
| Monash – PMP Printing Precinct | Schedule 2 to Clause 37.02 Comprehensive Development Zone |
| Yarra – municipal wide | |
| Yarra - 81-95 Burnley Street and 26-34 Doonside Street, Richmond | Schedule 15 to Clause 43.04 Development Plan Overlay |
Yarra Ranges - Former Lilydale Quarry |
| Council planning scheme | Planning scheme clause |
|---|---|
Whittlesea - Epping Renewal Site | Schedule 39 to Clause 43.04 Development Plan Overlay Schedule to Clause 45.12 Specific Controls Overlay – Incorporated Document SCO16 |
Hume - Craigieburn West PSP |
| Council planning scheme | Planning scheme clause |
|---|---|
Greater Geelong - Saleyards Precinct Plan |
The Governor in Council Order (the Order) is published in the Government Gazette and updated annually to specify affordable housing income ranges as defined under the Planning and Environment Act 1987.
Table 1 and 2 are derived from annual area median income from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census of Population and Housing and indexed using the Australian Bureau of Statistics Housing Group of the Consumer Price Index.
| Very Low | Low | Moderate | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single | Up to $30,640 | $30,640 to $49,020 | $49,021 to $73,530 |
| Couple (no dependant) | Up to $45,950 | $45,951 to $73,530 | $73,531 to $110,300 |
| Family (Single / Couple with dependant children) | Up to $64,330 | $64,331 to $102,950 | $102,951 to $154,410 |
| Very Low | Low | Moderate | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single | Up to $22,230 | $22,230 to $35,740 | $35,741 to $53,610 |
| Couple (no dependant) | Up to $33,500 | $33,501 to $53,610 | $53,611 to $80,420 |
| Family (Single / Couple with dependant children) | Up to $46,900 | $46,901 to $75,060 | $75,061 to $112,590 |
Parties to a voluntary Section 173 Agreement for affordable housing would refer to the Order to determine income eligibility of individuals and households targeted in negotiations.
If the affordable housing being negotiated is social housing, parties to a voluntary agreement can find further information at Housing Victoria.
Page last updated: 23/07/24
Social housing
Our Big Housing Build is Australia’s biggest ever investment in public and community housing. We are building more than 12,000 new homes throughout metro and regional Victoria.
In addition to the Big Housing Build, we’ll provide a further 4,000 new, energy efficient social housing homes, through programs like the Public Housing Renewal Program.
We are investing $1 billion in a Regional Housing Fund to deliver more than 1300 new homes across regional Victoria. The new homes will include a mix of social and affordable housing.
The $150 million Regional Worker Accommodation Fund will provide new housing options for regional communities where key workers are struggling to find affordable places to live.
For further information on the Big Housing Build and affordable housing being developed as social housing visit Homes Victoria.