Coerciveness built in the process of compulsory acquisition (CA) induces a perception of unfairness among the affected landowners and may alleviate with fair compensation and due process. This research focuses on the latter and aims to identify issues of unfairness perceived by the affected landowners using six criteria of procedural fairness from the legal literature including ethicality, representativeness, bias-suppression, accuracy, correctability and consistency. While procedural unfairness is a concern in many geographies (see for Scotland), this research adopts a case-study approach given the geographical specificity of CA laws and examines Indian process for its relatively recent modification under the newly enacted CA act of 2013. The paper undertakes a qualitative content analysis of court case reports on the Bangalore–Mysore Infrastructure Corridor project and interview transcripts of forty-seven landowners whose land was acquired using Karnataka Industrial Area Development Act of 1966 (a precursor to the new act). This research argues that fixing following issues is crucial to improving the landowners’ perception of fairness: ethical behaviour by the acquirers; representativeness of the affected landowners; quality information throughout the process; accountability of acquirers; neutral review of objections; unbiased assessment of compensation; and inexpensive conflict resolutions.

Purpose: The research examines the impact of heavy rail transport infrastructure on residential property prices in Melbourne at different stages of project development using the Mernda Rail Extension Project as a case study.Design/methodology/approach: A difference-in-difference approach is used to quantitatively measure the magnitude of change in the house price at different stages of rail transport infrastructure project development.Findings: When controlling for a range of structural, neighbourhood, and locational attributes, the authors find that properties within 800 m from the proposed train station are 8.7% higher in value than those outside 800 m (but within 1,600 m). However, during the project's construction, the project's benefits in the form of house price appreciation are not fully realised. “Unrealised benefit” is attributed to the negative externalities of construction works and apprehensions associated with the project's shelving and time delays.Research limitations/implications: Depending on the availability of data on residential property transactions in the future, a spatial analysis of rail infrastructure's radius of catchment effect is needed.Practical implications: Findings from this research are beneficial for policymakers concerned with transport and land use planning, property valuation for taxation and mortgage purposes.Originality/value: This research contributes to the knowledge of the impact of the rail project on house prices in Melbourne. While there are earlier studies on the topic, there is limited understanding of this prime Australian city attractive to domestic and foreign investors.

Traditionally, rental housing has been supplied by a large pool of individual investors who own a few units and invest their savings, with some leverage, to take advantage of the tax regime in Australia. The last five years have seen the emergence of build-to-rent (BTR) units, which are supplied by investors who own a large number of units. The state of Victoria in Australia has the largest share of these projects. In the current market and regulatory environment, the financial viability of BTR projects is low for investors and hinges on the ability of units to be leased at higher than market rents. This paper examines four groups of levers, including those already being pursued by the building industry, that can be used to improve the financial viability of BTRs. These include: (i) revenue maximization, (ii) cost reduction (iii) fiscal and (iv) planning incentives. An archetypical BTR project which mimics current practice is considered, assumed to be in Docklands, Victoria, where several BTR projects are planned. For the robustness check, a feasibility analysis is conducted for a site in North Melbourne, a neighbourhood in Victoria with several BTR projects. The results indicate that for revenue maximization, the mix of unit types in a BTR project should be location-specific, as market preferences (and the characteristics of renters) determine the rent for different types of units that can be achieved. In a conventional BTR project development, where land is bought upfront and the project is developed, the mixed-use BTR (residential in combination with commercial) does not provide significant financial benefits though including small retail (3–4% of the net lettable area) may provide complementary benefits. Incurring large capital costs upfront and having the revenue stream spread over long periods reduces financial viability. While construction costs are more difficult to reduce, ways to reduce land costs could be through zoning land for BTR use, through mechanisms such as joint ventures with landowners, and land leasing. Exemptions on income, land tax, and rates (like CHPs) can result in a higher return for investors. A full GST refund, an incentive that industry is lobbying for, results in a similar IRR as an exemption on income, land tax and rates would offer. These results will assist in determining priorities for policies that are aimed at BTR.

Taking inspiration from the longstanding problem of inadequate compensation for the compulsory acquisition of private land for a public purpose, this research estimates the economic value of (i) future development potential of land or ‘hope value’; and (ii) depreciation in property value due to acquisition notification or ‘blight’. Using empirical data on property transactions conducted in the Bengaluru Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project area and registered with sub-registrar offices in Bengaluru India during 2007–14, this research innovatively combines the duration model and hedonic price model to estimate the above. Results indicate that the current mechanisms for compensation are inadequately compensating for the land. The loss of the hope value ranges between 2.39 to 8.35 times the market value of agricultural land in 2006 and loss due to blight is approximately 31 percent. Compensating for these losses ex-ante should induce fairness in the compulsory acquisition process and reduce arbitrariness in the valuation of essential components of a compensation package, thus unburdening the valuation responsibilities of the legal institutions. These findings empirically support the argument of payment of additional monetary compensation to the market value of land and provide a rational measure of the same.

There is growing recognition that build-to-rent (BTR), a novel institutional asset class, could improve rental affordability and housing choice in Australia. Despite favourable market conditions and increasing demand, Australia’s BTR sector remains underdeveloped compared to the US and UK. Although the asset class has attracted significant foreign institutional capital, there is little interest from domestic institutional funds. This contrasting investment behaviour between foreign and domestic funds has brought a new dimension to the debates on BTR in Australia. The study uses qualitative research design to examine institutional investor behaviour towards BTR in Australia. Interviews were conducted with experienced BTR investors across three countries—Australia, the US, and the UK—to understand the barriers and investment behaviour towards BTR. The study finds that the key barriers hindering BTR growth in Australia include unfavourable tax treatment, complex planning processes, and insufficient affordable housing incentives. Institutional investors’ decisions are influenced by firm characteristics, operational capabilities, and risk attitudes. Due to risk considerations, Australian superfunds prefer stabilised assets over new developments. Also, sustainability and ESG factors are increasingly important considerations in BTR investment decisions. The research highlights the need for a supportive regulatory environment, efficient property management, and innovative financing solutions to boost BTR investments. To accelerate BTR growth in Australia, policymakers should address tax disparities, streamline planning processes, and enhance affordable housing incentives. Developing BTR-responsive financial instruments could reduce financing costs and attract more institutional capital to the sector.

Households can mitigate the disequilibrium in housing consumption that they face during their lifecycle by moving to another house, rebuilding, extending or altering their current house. The option of moving is rarely exercised in India due to high transaction costs. The default option is doing nothing. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the importance of access to, and availability of, formal housing finance in determining the choice of housing disequilibrium mitigating strategies, using nationwide housing survey data for those who decided to mitigate housing consumption disequilibrium through rebuilding, extending or altering their current house. Multinomial Logit method is used to model household housing consumption adjustment choice. The results indicate that when the share of own funds as a share of total construction cost reduces, and the access to formal finance increases, there is a tendency to shift towards rebuilding rather than expanding or altering. The results are discussed in the context of a recent government policy, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Prime Minister Housing Scheme), that aims to improve housing conditions.