Land tax exemption legislation unlocks innovative channel to address Canberra’s rental affordability challenge.
CHC applauds the Legislative Assembly’s passage last week of amendments to the Land Tax Act, that provide for a land tax exemption for owners of residential investment properties that are managed through a registered community housing provider. The legislation is slated to take effect from next Monday 1st April 2019, with a maximum of 100 properties to be eligible for the land tax exemption during an initial pilot period ending 30 June 2021. The targeted tenants are families that do not qualify for public housing, and which pay a significant proportion of their income in the private rental market. Tenant income must be in the bottom two income quintiles (<$100,000 p.a. combined household income) and properties must be rented at a rate that is a 25% reduction of market rent. Canberra is the most expensive city in Australia in which to rent a house, and second most expensive in which to rent a unit, leaving half of lower income households in the private rental market in a state of housing stress
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