ACT Budget Maps Out 30,000 New Homes by 2030, With Land for Nearly 26,000

The ACT Government has used its 2025–26 Budget to set out how it intends to enable 30,000 new homes in Canberra by 2030, backing the target with more than $145 million in new investment and a five-year land release program covering nearly 26,000 dwellings.

Announced on 23 June 2025, the package combines land release, planning reform, direct housing delivery, construction workforce incentives and further stamp duty relief.

A five-year land pipeline

The centrepiece is the new Housing Supply and Land Release Program 2025–26 to 2029–30. It expands the old indicative land release program to cover housing delivered on both government and privately held land, reflecting the reality that easily developable Territory-owned land is becoming scarcer.

Government land releases are expected to enable nearly 26,000 new dwellings over five years. On top of that, the program estimates more than 9,000 dwellings could be delivered by the private sector over the same period, based on current planning and construction activity, well above the historical average of 1,000 to 1,500 private dwellings a year.

The Molonglo Valley remains the main greenfield growth area, with residential sites to keep being released in Whitlam for single dwellings and multi-unit housing, and further releases in Coombs. The future Molonglo town centre is expected to provide the district’s largest residential releases.

Social, affordable and build-to-rent homes

The government sets aside at least 15% of suitable residential land releases each year for public, community and affordable housing. In 2025–26 that share rises to 20%, with sites across Belconnen, Coombs, Macnamara, Jacka and Civic expected to deliver 58 public housing dwellings, 239 community housing dwellings and 55 affordable homes.

The Budget also adds $20 million to the Affordable Housing Project Fund, taking it to $100 million, and includes 85 new public housing dwellings through community housing providers, 300 affordable build-to-rent homes and 17 new social housing townhouses in Coombs.

Stamp duty threshold now indexed

For buyers, the key change is that the price threshold for full stamp duty concessions rises from $1 million to $1.02 million from 1 July 2025, and will be indexed annually to Canberra’s consumer price index. The higher threshold applies across the Home Buyer Concession Scheme, the Pensioner Duty Concession Scheme and the Disability Duty Concession Scheme.

Building the workforce

• Apprenticeship subsidies rise to 90% for carpenters, plumbers, tilers, bricklayers and electrotechnology trades.
• All apprentices and trainees receive a $250 cost-of-living payment, with an extra $250 for first-year apprentices.
• A Try-a-Trade program in ACT public high schools aims to encourage more women into construction.
• Funding supports a Construction Productivity Agenda to streamline planning and building approvals.

Supply versus demand

The program points out that the ACT’s dwelling stock grew 2.0% in the year to the December 2024 quarter, ahead of population growth of 1.4%, with 4,336 dwellings completed over the period. It also notes some slowdown in approvals, with 2,240 new dwelling approvals in the 12 months to April 2025, and stresses that delivery depends on market capacity and industry capability.

Industry welcomed the direction but urged a focus on delivery. Property Council ACT & Capital Region executive director Ashlee Berry told Real Estate Business that demand-side measures only go so far, and that bringing prices down requires more supply at all price points.