Legislative Assembly Environment and Planning Committee
Inquiry into the supply of homes in regional Victoria
Report Tabled
Report presented to Parliament
The Environment and Planning Committee tabled its report making 12 findings and 34 recommendations in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday 19 November 2025.
The report describes current demand for homes in regional Victorian communities and the barriers to scaling up the construction of new homes to meet this demand.
It outlines how the Victorian Government can collaborate with local governments, developers and communities to boost regional housing supply by:
- integrating settlement and infrastructure planning
- making timely investment in the transport, utility and social infrastructure needed to service new housing
- addressing construction skills shortages and promoting modern methods of construction
- incentivising residential developers to build more diverse housing that meets the needs of Victorians throughout their lives
- funding the construction of social housing, to create a stable pipeline of affordable homes in regional and rural communities into the future.
The Victorian Government has six months to respond to the recommendations.
Read the final report
Inquiry snapshot
The demand for housing—particularly smaller homes—in regional communities is growing, driven by steady population growth, migration out of Melbourne and a surge in single-person and couple households. However, the construction of new homes is not always keeping pace.
That is why the Legislative Assembly Environment and Planning Committee commenced an Inquiry into the supply of regional homes to investigate barriers to the construction of new homes and identify opportunities to bolster supply.
The Committee received 118 submissions and conducted five days of public hearings and numerous regional site visits throughout 2025.
It learned that residential development in rural and regional Victoria can be constrained by land supply, infrastructure delivery, regional skill shortages and high construction costs. Higher density development and smaller, one- or two-bedroom homes are not always economically viable to build in the regions.
The Committee found that the Victorian Government has established a strong statewide vision, policy and planning reforms to increase housing supply, improve affordability and enhance the housing security of all Victorians.
However, the Committee determined that more detailed regional planning, timely infrastructure funding, targeted incentives for development and a sustained investment in social housing are needed to bring this vision to fruition.
It tabled its final report on Wednesday 19 November 2025 making 34 recommendations to this effect.
Latest news
Public hearings
Members of the Committee are travelling around regional Victoria as part of the public hearing phase of the inquiry. At a hearing in Colac on Monday 24 February community groups, local government representatives and agencies operating in the area had their say.
Contact us
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Legislative Assembly Environment and Planning Committee
Parliament House, Spring Street
EAST MELBOURNE VIC 3002
Telephone
Terms of reference
The Terms of Reference are the official instructions that explain what a parliamentary committee must investigate and report on.
Under the Committee's power to self-refer inquiries, it will examine the 2023-24 Annual Reports of the Department of Transport and Planning, and the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing. Specifically, it resolved:
That the Committee conducts an inquiry into the supply of homes in regional Victoria including the methods of building them and the mix of housing forms and types and report no later than 15 December 2025.