The Property Council of Australia has today welcomed the release of the exposure draft ministerial instrument for the mergers and acquisitions reform that will prevent thousands of vanilla property deals from being caught up in costly red tape.
The government's exposure draft for the Competition and Consumer (Notification of Acquisitions) Determination 2025 includes an exception for certain land acquisitions. It confirms its October 2024 commitment to exempt residential development and certain commercial transactions where the business primarily buys, sells or leases land.
As a direct result of the Property Council's advocacy, an additional exception has also been made for lease renewals and extensions for land on which a commercial business operates. This means many benign and low-risk property deals will avoid unnecessary notification to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) for review.
Concerns remain regarding the impact on new leases. Lessees are potentially required to apply to the ACCC if they meet the notification thresholds or potentially have their transaction slowed down through a cumbersome waiver process or determination.
Property Council Chief Executive Mike Zorbas said the exemptions will protect thousands of new homes from costly delays.
"This is a win for tenants, homebuyers and customers through an efficiency boost for the thousands of ordinary but important transactions that support the industrial, residential and commercial assets our cities need to function well," Mr Zorbas said.
"In their original form, these reforms would have caused months of delays to projects and added thousands of dollars in costs for homebuyers at a time when the housing crisis is front and centre of our national debate.
"These complex reforms are still unfolding, but the government has heeded our feedback, addressing unintended impacts on the capital-intensive, low-risk property sector.
"We will continue working with Treasury on the draft determination and any remaining issues, with a particular focus on new leases, as well as with the ACCC on their draft assessment and process guidelines," he said.
