Diversified property giant Mirvac, in announcing an operating profit after tax of $596 million for the 2022 financial year, revealed it would enter the land lease market.
“Given the crisis of affordability in major cities, we are actively rethinking all types of housing typologies, which, as well as Build to Rent, includes disability housing and land lease. Through land lease, customers have the opportunity to buy their home within a Mirvac community, while we retain ownership of the land,” Mirvac CEO Susan Lloyd Hurwitz said in the annual report.
“This is a sector through which we can apply our asset creation and curation capabilities, and, though still in its early days, we are excited by the potential the offering has for those aged 55 and over, who will benefit from the amenity, services and sense of connection to be delivered.”
Susan said in February she was looking to “press the button” to build and operate land lease developments, but in May, Mirvac and Victoria Investments and Properties gave a planning permit to established LLC operator Lifestyle Communities to develop a 7.1ha land lease site in the Woodlea master-planned community at Aintree, 29km west of Melbourne’s CBD.
She now appears to have finally decided to follow the well-worn paths of land lease operators Stockland, Ingenia Communities, Palm Lake Resort, GemLife, Living Gems, Hometown Australia, Lifestyle Communities, Serenitas, Lincoln Park and Aspen Group.
Land lease communities originally targeted the 50% of Australians who had $450,000 or less in total assets and were seeking to downsize but could not find an affordable option. A Gondwana home at B by Halcyon in QLD’s Sunshine Coast costs $799,000 today.
Mirvac has a $30 billion development pipeline. The group is also at the forefront of the Build to Rent sector with $1 billion of assets under construction. LIV Albert Fields in Melbourne has been approved for development.
With demand for both medium-density and high-density housing slowing, it is clear Susan sees this as an opportune time to become a powerful player in the land lease sector.
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