The ACT government has given a helping hand to people who delay developing their blocks, waiving late fees, offering refunds and giving people years longer to finish building.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
In effect, people building single houses on new blocks will have up to six years before they face any late fee.
Developers building apartments and units, or commercial and industrial buildings will have longer still, with eight years before they must start paying late fees.
The fees that are owed have also been substantially reduced, with the new system simply charging a year's extra rates for every year a project is delayed after the six or eight year buffer.
Under the former system, fees grew bigger with every year, with the result that some developers have owed hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Since people don't pay the fee until they start building, the government argued that facing a big bill was enough to put them off getting started.
The changes to "extension of time" fees are part of the government's push to stimulate activity in the property market at a time of economic stagnation.
The fees were originally introduced to stop "land banking", where developers would buy land, hang on to it without developing, then sell it again and make a profit. It was also in response to complaints from people about living next to land that remained undeveloped for many years.
Under the Stanhope government, an escalating series of fees were introduced that resulted in developers facing bills 15 times their rates by the time they were five years late in building.
In 2012, the late fees were scaled back for the first four years.
Now, they're scaled back further, with building commencement dates no longer being enforced and the focus on the completion date. Leases for single residential blocks have a two-year completion date from the time of sale, and other leases have four years.
This means that if you bought a block of land to build a house in April this year, you have until April 2020 to build before facing fees. You have longer still for a commercial, industrial or multi-unit development.
The government is not only applying these changes to new houses and developments, but to people already late with building. If you are already late - dating from April this year - the calculation of late fees will revert to the new system - of one year of rates for each year overdue.
In a further bonus, the government will waive all extension-of-time fees owed since June 22, 2012. And, if you've paid a fee since then, the government will refund it.
It describes the changes as "a measured and balanced approach" that will stimulate the construction industry.
"Every year the government receives many complaints about undeveloped blocks," Sustainable Development Minister Simon Corbell said in a statement to the ACT Assembly. "The main concerns raised are the unsightly nature of the blocks and the effect on neighbouring property values.
"At present, land is already a restricted resource in the ACT and becoming increasingly scarce. There is community expectation that there should be a mechanism to encourage leaseholders to develop their properties in a timely manner. An appropriate [extension of time] fee structure will continue to be an integral part of the territory's leasehold system."