The proposal by the Federal Government to consider innovative infrastructure funding must not end up being a tax on new housing, says the Urban Taskforce.

“The Urban Taskforce welcomes the Federal Government’s announcement that they are looking at innovative ways to fund infrastructure,” says Urban Taskforce CEO, Chris Johnson. “But we are concerned that this could become a tax on new housing focussed only on land owners and developers rather than a broad based levy shared by all beneficiaries of new infrastructure.

“There has been much discussion about the uplift on the value of individual houses near new railway lines where the density has been increased. Our concern is that excessive taxes on the uplift will kill the feasibility of a project and that individual house owners will not go through the dramas of relocation without a substantial windfall.

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