Industry says exemption will cut red tape and boost housing development
The Property Council of Australia has expressed support for a newly announced exemption within Australia’s mergers and acquisitions framework, which will exclude leases and other land interest acquisitions conducted in the ordinary course of business from the regime’s scope.
The exemption is expected to benefit commercial property assets such as office buildings, industrial estates, and shopping centres, as well as facilitate the development of new housing. By removing thousands of standard property leases from regulatory requirements, the change aims to enable property firms to maintain their focus on investment and urban development.
Further amendments to the regime include a simplified approach to monetary thresholds for asset acquisitions, streamlined notification requirements for serial acquisitions, expanded exemptions for financial market activities, and practical revisions to automatic voiding provisions, while maintaining incentives for parties to notify proposed mergers.
The Property Council has consistently advocated for such exemptions, arguing that routine property transactions should not be subject to the same scrutiny as deals with potential competition implications.
“This is a common-sense decision that will cut red tape, help boost cities and build more homes,” said Mike Zorbas (pictured right), chief executive at the Property Council of Australia. “Without this decision, standard property transactions would have faced months of delays and added costs.
“Delays to new homes in particular would have ultimately driven up prices for homebuyers. The exemption strikes the right balance to protect markets without bogging down the regime with run-of-the-mill property deals.”
According to Zorbas, the exemption acknowledges that standard property transactions, such as acquiring, leasing or developing land, are not anti-competitive actions, but fundamental aspects of doing business in the property sector.
He added that the change will give investors, developers and tenants greater certainty that routine transactions will not be delayed by unnecessary regulation, while enabling the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission to focus its resources on transactions with real market significance rather than processing standard property leases or acquisitions.
“The Property Council has constantly called for a clear and workable merger regime that does not bog down the property industry unnecessarily and provides legal clarity for the industry,” Zorbas said. “This is the latest step in the right direction.”
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