The Victorian state government will rezone 100,000 housing blocks within two years, and create 17 new suburbs in Melbourne’s key growth areas, it announced on Tuesday. The project is focused on tackling housing affordability in Melbourne, and hopes to include first-homebuyers in the property market, Treasurer Tim Pallas and Minister for Planning Richard Wynne said in a press conference yesterday. Pallas said that the State Government’s “priorities lie very simply and very clearly in support of first homeowners and getting people into homes.”

The new suburbs will be located in Melbourne’s outer north, north-west and south-east. Blocks will be on the market between now and the end of 2018. The initiative is focused on “ensuring there is plenty of new housing coming to market, to suit the varied needs of Victorian families, stay ahead of the population growth and make new homes as affordable as possible,” Wynne said. “Access to town centres and schools will be available early on,” he added, assuring potential buyers that key infrastructures will be in place when the lots become available.