Residential land will be considered vacant and subject to the following ramifications if in a financial year the land has not been occupied for six months or more, whether continuously or cumulatively. There are two streams of vacant home tax (VHT) that may be imposed if a residential property is found unoccupied, find what stream suits you.
Stream 01 suits those who wish to pay their VHT in a monetarily fashion.
The rate of VHT imposed on the property owner is linked to the urgent social housing waitlist report released that financial year.
When a property becomes eligible for VHT, the property owner will be charged the waitlist figure (in months) as a percentage of the taxable value of the property.
If Stream 01 does not suit you, visit Stream 02 for an alternative way to pay your VHT.
Example Scenario
- In 2024 the median wait time for someone on the urgent social housing wait list for
NSW is 3.5 months
- This equates to 3.5% in VHT
- A property owner that has left their property unoccupied for 6 months in a financial
year will be charged 3.5% VHT (on top of any additional land taxes)
- 3.5% of 973,300* = $34,065.50 VHT
*Based off the median price for a house in Australia
- If in 2025 the urgent social housing wait list for NSW goes up to 5 months, VHT
would increase to 5%, if it went down to 2 months VHT would decrease to 2%
Incentive
By linking private property ownership with social housing you provide a common thread or incentive. The social housing wait listers want to the wait list to decrease so they are housed sooner and the CLO who is paying VHT will want the wait list to decrease so the VHT decreases.
Outcome
Money generated from VHT will first cover operating costs, then be distributed to Stream 02 initiatives.
- Deliberate land banking
- Simple laziness
- Deceased estates being processed or forgotten
- Legal and family disputes
- Lack of finances to progress a development
- Development applications
