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Premier Jacinta Allan has announced a one-year extension to the stamp duty concession scheme for off-the-plan properties.
Victoria’s Labor government will invest $61 million to cut stamp duty for off-the-plan apartments, units, and town houses for another year in an effort to reduce upfront costs, speed up building, and save home buyers money.
The concession allows for a 100 per cent deduction of outstanding construction and refurbishment costs when determining how much stamp duty is owed.
A Victorian using the concession who buys off-the-plan could pay around $28,000 less stamp duty on a $620,000 apartment, with duty slashed from around $32,000 to around $4,000.
The amount saved depends on how much construction has occurred. Generally, someone buying an apartment off-the-plan is likely to pay about a quarter of the stamp duty they would pay without the off-the-plan concession, according to the Victorian government.
The concession was first expanded by the Allan government in October 2024, enabling anyone buying an eligible off-the-plan apartment, unit or town house to access the stamp duty concession (not just first home buyers and owner-occupiers) until October 2025.
Caps were also removed at the time, meaning the concession was available for eligible properties of any value.
According to the government, since the expanded tax concession was introduced in October 2024, home buyers claiming the concession saved $24,517 on average.
Given the scheme’s success in making it faster and cheaper to build new homes, the government has extended the stamp duty discount by another year, until October 2026.
Victoria Premier Allan said: “Young people can’t afford homes in a housing crisis, and I’m on their side.
“That’s why we’re slashing stamp duty for off-the-plan units and townhouses – to build more homes and make them cheaper to buy.”
Treasurer Jaclyn Symes said: “We have listened to industry, and we’re acting. This isn’t just great news for homebuyers trying to get into the market. It’s also a huge win for homebuilders.”
In its budget, the Allan government also laid out plans to invest $24 million to deliver 50 ‘Train and Tram Zone’ activity centres across Melbourne’s inner and middle suburbs – in a bid to help build more apartments, units, and town houses in areas near train stations.
The budget also invests $12.1 million to deliver more family homes with backyards in the outer suburbs. This could reportedly accelerate the planning work for 13,200 new homes and 8,600 jobs in greenfield suburbs through two new Precinct Structure Plans at Clyde South in Melbourne’s south-east and Derrimut Fields in the west.
Housing and the cost of living were major issues for voters in the run-up to the federal election, with April data from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) showing home owners in Victoria experienced the sharpest rise in mortgage arrears across the country.
Moreover, household financial stress in the first quarter of 2025 was the highest nationally in Victoria, according to NAB.
[Related: Pressure on mortgage holders expected to ease: RBA]
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