Welcome to the May edition of The Lot, our regular bulletin keeping you informed of key issues in the property development industry.

With COVID 19 came an acceleration of many trends that had been discussed in the industry for some time. In this edition of The Lot, we explore some of those trends and changes, including build to rent, affordable housing, the increasingly complex and expensive foreign investment regime and changes to owners corporations.

The Maddocks Development team works on residential, commercial, retail and industrial development projects across Australia for both local and overseas developers. Our experience and expertise puts us in the ideal position to discuss issues at the nexus of development and the law. Find out more about how our Property & Development team can assist you.

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In this edition of The Lot

Build To Rent – key considerations for developers

Build To Rent (BTR) is rapidly gaining momentum across Australia, and here in Victoria, the State Government recently pulled some of the necessary levers on tax concessions and planning reforms needed to support this emerging asset class. We look at some of the key considerations for developers investing in a BTR project including acquisition, asset management, finance, tax and construction.

Affordable Housing – Part 1 – The moment of truth or another false dawn?

We’re seeing a significant increase in developers in the private sector seeking advice on affordable housing. In this article, we share some of the current issues and opportunities developers should consider, including managing incentives from Council an the impact on the affordable housing agreement.

Subdivisions for Developers – Part 2 – Securing Your Vision

Following on from part 1 of this article, in part 2 we focus on on-sales, how they can assist a developer with ongoing regulation of the developer’s requirements and some legal and practical enforcement measures when a purchaser does not comply with built form requirements.

Owners Corporations – Significant changes on the way for developers

The Owners Corporations and Other Acts Amendment Act 2021 (Vic) has finally been enacted and received Royal Assent in February 2021. How does the Act impact on developers? We summarise the ‘need to know points’ in this article.

Australia’s Foreign Investment Laws – major reforms in early 2021

January 2021 saw major reforms to Australia’s foreign investment framework. There are some important changes that developers should be aware off including the national security test, new ‘call in’ and ‘last resort’ powers and higher penalties for non-compliance.

Signing documents electronically in 2021 – an update for Developers

COVID-19 brought a number of changes to enable parties to execute documents electronically. Unfortunately, for companies some of these changes have now expired. We provide a brief summary of what this means for developers, purchasers and tenants.

Economic Entitlement Rules (coming soon)

Watch this space for our upcoming article on Economic Entitlement Rules in which we reflect on what we know about the practical operation of the rules, two years on from when they were enacted in June 2019. This will hit your inbox in the coming weeks.