- Published:
- Friday 26 June 2026 at 10:00 am
The Allan Labor Government is making it easier to build more homes closer to public transport.
For too long, too many Melbourne suburbs have experienced slow housing growth.
That’s despite these places having some of the best access to public transport, jobs and services in Victoria.
It means young people are being priced out.
That’s why Labor is releasing the final planning controls for 23 train and tram zones in inner and middle suburbs and the final precinct structure plans of the six new Suburban Rail Loop stations:
- Eight are located along the Frankston Line – Hawksburn, Toorak, Armadale, Malvern, Glen Huntly, Ormond, Bentleigh and Mentone stations
- Five are along the new Metro Tunnel corridor – Caulfield, Springvale, Noble Park, Yarraman and Dandenong stations
- Four are along the Sandringham Line – South Yarra, Prahran, Windsor and Elsternwick stations
- Three are along the Belgrave and Lilydale lines – Blackburn, Nunawading and Mitcham stations
- Two are along the Alamein Line – Riversdale/Willison and Ashburton
- One along a major tram corridor in Toorak Village – serviced by Route 58.
These new planning controls make it easier to build homes by giving certainty about what can be built and where.
It also stops homes from getting caught up in red tape.
In the immediate ‘core’ of the train and tram zones, controls allow for higher heights depending on the location.
Buildings that meet planning rules in the core will be ‘deemed to comply’ – meaning they can’t be sent to VCAT, speeding up approvals.
Two rounds of community consultation, backed by more than 30,000 people helped to directly shape the final plans – including changes to height limits, greener streetscapes and stronger infrastructure planning.
Work on the two inner Melbourne train and tram zones in both Melbourne and Yarra city councils will be finalised soon.
Our train and tram zones will help unlock capacity for more than 300,000 homes in these areas by 2051.
More homes close to the new Suburban Rail Loop
The Suburban Rail Loop will slash travel times, cut congestion and connect people to Monash and Deakin by rail for the first time.
It will also deliver 70,000 more homes across Cheltenham, Clayton, Monash, Glen Waverley, Burwood and Box Hill.
The final planning controls will streamline approvals – cutting red tape and wait times for more homes to be built faster.
It will also give communities certainty about what will get built and where.
More than 10,000 submissions over several years of consultation shaped the final plans, including:
- More open space In Cheltenham
- Stronger protections for overshadowing on the Remembrance Gardens in Clayton
- Improved pedestrian and cycling links in Monash
- Overshadowing protections for the future park along Whitehorse Road, Ashted Road Reserve and Surrey Reserve in Box Hill
- Building heights reduced along Gardiners Creek in Burwood
- Plans to improve pedestrian connections along Kingsway in Glen Waverley.
Construction of SRL East is well underway with works at all six station sites and the train stabling facility. Tunnelling will start this year and trains will be taking passengers in 2035.
The Liberal’s housing plan is to return to the old planning system – creating childless suburbs, where young Victorians, families and workers can’t afford to live.
Only Labor has new solutions to make life easier and more affordable for Victorians.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Planning Sonya Kilkenny
“The status quo is not an option. We need to deliver more housing choice close to trains, trams, schools and jobs.”
“While we’re building homes for young Victorians, the Liberals are working overtime to block them.”
Quotes attributable to Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop Nick Staikos
“By 2050, Melbourne will be the size of London and the Suburban Rail Loop is critical in catering for this growth – building more homes closer to world class public transport.”
“We can’t keep building further out. The Suburban Rail Loop will take pressure off the outer suburbs and give young Victorians the opportunity to buy a home closer to where they grew up.”