Victoria Names 25 More Train and Tram Zones for Higher-Density Homes

The Victorian Government on 27 February 2025 named 25 more Melbourne locations where it intends to change planning rules to allow more housing near train and tram stations, expanding a program it says is central to tackling supply and affordability.

The new list came on top of 25 locations announced in October 2024 and 10 activity centres in an earlier pilot, bringing the total to 60 centres slated for fast-tracked higher-density development.

Where the new zones are

More than half of the new locations are in Melbourne's inner and outer south-east, along the Cranbourne and Pakenham, Frankston, Glen Waverley, Sandringham and Alamein train lines. The remainder are spread across train and tram corridors in suburbs including Heidelberg, Coburg, Brunswick, Thornbury and Kew.

Premier Jacinta Allan made the announcement in Noble Park, one of the new locations, arguing that it made sense to build more homes close to existing stations and services. She said density would be highest in the core around each transport hub and then decrease gently further out.

The timetable

Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny said each location would be treated differently, drawing on councils' existing strategic work and community consultation. Consultation on the first 25 locations was due to begin in April 2025, with the next 25 to follow later in the year, and the government hoped to have new planning rules in place for all 60 centres by early 2026.

She described the work as setting planning rules for the next 10, 20 or 30 years, giving both communities and industry certainty about where homes can go.

The program was funded in the May 2025 state Budget, which included $24 million to deliver 50 train and tram zone activity centres across Melbourne's inner and middle suburbs.

Support and opposition

Greater Dandenong Mayor Jim Memeti backed the plan, saying the council supported more housing in the right spot. The Opposition's housing spokesperson, Richard Riordan, criticised it as a threat to established neighbourhoods and argued it overlooked regional cities such as Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo, as well as the tax and regulatory burden on developers.

The government's October 2024 activity centre announcement had already drawn a small protest from residents in Brighton, while the Property Council welcomed it, according to the ABC.

What it means for the market

The activity centre program sits alongside other Victorian housing measures, including the off-the-plan stamp duty concession for apartments and townhouses, greenfield land releases in the outer suburbs and the rezoning of surplus government land.

For owners close to the nominated stations, the eventual planning controls could change what can be built on their land. For buyers, the program's aim is a deeper supply of apartments and townhouses in established, well-connected suburbs, though the timing of any new supply will depend on how quickly the rules are finalised and projects become viable.