18 November 2013

Liberals say "I told you so" on Leave Variation Charges

| johnboy
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It seems simple enough. If someone is getting a windfall from the public kindly letting them build apartments on a chunk of land that was not zoned for it when they bought it then they owe the public back a slice of the action.

The Liberals’ Brendan Smyth, however, is still raging against this imposition on Canberra’s hard done by developers.

The release of the ACT’s September Quarter Financial Report shows Labor’s Lease Variation Charge (LVC) has under delivered by 38 percent, Shadow Treasurer Brendan Smyth said today.

“The Canberra Liberals maintain the LVC is an ill-conceived tax which continues to stymie local economic growth. This quarter financial report validates our position,” Mr Smyth said.

“ACT Labor is spinning the LVC as a developers tax to finance its Urban Improvement Fund, but because the LVC has underperformed, projects under the initiative will be funded through budget appropriation in 2012-13, with no new projects in 2013-14.

“This tax has lacked purpose from the beginning. We’ve already seen the devastating impact the LVC had in its first year, where development applications in Canberra slumped by a massive 56 percent.

“When other jurisdictions are trying to stimulate development and attract investment, ACT Labor’s LVC is having a negative impact on the Canberra economy.

“The LVC is hurting Canberra. It’s hampering infill development while smashing housing affordability,” Mr Smyth concluded.

Housing affordability seems to be rapidly coming under control thanks to Brendan’s mates on the big hill, and looking around town there seems to still be an awful lot of more apartments being built.

The ACT Government is facing some huge problems on the real estate front, but LVC chilling development and not bringing in as much money as planned would seem to be small beer.

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