What the New Government Reforms Mean for Property Owners & Developers
- May 19
- 3 min read
Over the past 12 months, the Victorian and Federal Governments have introduced, or proposed, some of the biggest changes to housing, development and property taxation in decades.
At first glance, many of these reforms sound negative:
tighter builder accountability
changes to negative gearing
changes to capital gains tax
increased compliance and enforcement
But when you zoom out, a very clear direction emerges:
Governments want more housing supply, and they want better quality housing delivered faster.
And that changes the opportunity landscape significantly.
The Old Model Is Being Phased Out
For years, property wealth in Australia was often built through:
buying existing homes
holding them long-term
relying on passive capital growth
leveraging tax concessions
The emerging reforms are gradually shifting away from this model.
Proposed Negative Gearing Changes
The likely direction of reform is:
retaining negative gearing for new housing only
reducing or removing concessions for existing homes
Why?
Because Governments want:
more dwellings built
more supply created
less competition between investors and owner occupiers for established housing
What this means:
The advantage increasingly moves toward:
townhouse developments
subdivisions
knockdown rebuilds
adding dwellings
medium-density housing
In other words, creating value, not just holding property.
Proposed Capital Gains Tax Changes
The proposed move away from the traditional 50% CGT discount toward an inflation-indexed system sends a similar message.
The old model rewarded:
long-term passive growth
The emerging model favours:
active development
value creation
improving land
delivering housing outcomes
Importantly:
Most serious developments are already undertaken through Special Purpose Vehicles (company structures) where profits are treated as trading income, meaning many active developers are less impacted than passive investors.
Planning Reform & Codification
Victoria is also rapidly moving toward:
codified planning pathways
“deemed to comply” development standards
faster approval systems for compliant housing
This is a huge shift.
Historically, development often relied heavily on:
local relationships
subjective Council interpretation
fragmented consultant advice
The new system increasingly rewards good design + integrated thinking + coordinated project teams.
The New Builder Liability Environment
The introduction of the Building and Plumbing Commission (BPC) and stronger enforcement powers has fundamentally changed builder risk.
Builders are now operating in an environment where:
defect rectification can be enforced years later
documentation matters more than ever
quality and coordination are critical
This is pushing the entire industry toward better systems + better records + more integrated project delivery.
The $2 Billion Infrastructure Push
Governments are also acknowledging a major reality - housing cannot be delivered without infrastructure.
The proposed $2B infrastructure funding push toward:
sewer
water
roads
enabling infrastructure
is designed to unlock stalled housing supply across growth and regional areas.
This creates significant opportunities for:
regional development
infill housing
subdivision projects
sites previously constrained by servicing
What This All Means for Property Owners
The opportunity is no longer just “buy and hold”
It is increasingly “understand what your property could become”
Because the reforms are collectively favouring:
housing creation
land optimisation
subdivision
medium-density development
strategic site planning
Why Integrated Teams Matter More Than Ever
As the system becomes faster, more codified and more compliance-driven the risk of fragmented advice increases.
The projects that succeed moving forward will be design-led, strategically assessed early and coordinated from the beginning.
That’s exactly why Build Ready Australia exists.
The proposed reforms aren’t removing opportunity from property, they’re reshaping where the opportunity sits.
The winners over the next decade are likely to be those who:
create housing
unlock land potential
think strategically
and assemble the right team early