3 December 2025
We’re updating car parking requirements to better reflect the needs of Victorians through changes to statewide planning provisions.
The Department of Transport and Planning has reduced car parking rates to be proportionate to public transport access. Where a site has high-quality access to public transport, less parking will be required for a new use or development.
The reforms will revise minimum car parking rates and introduce new maximum car parking rates in areas with the best access to public transport.
We talked to thousands of Victorians when developing Plan for Victoria, and we heard that Victorians want to see more homes close to public transport.
A car park can increase the cost of a townhouse or apartment by more than 10 per cent and add more than 15 per cent to the rent. By cutting this cost for homes in well-serviced areas, more Victorians will have the choice of a cheaper home by not paying for car parking they don’t need.
New townhouses and apartment buildings in locations well-serviced by public transport and where it’s easy to walk and cycle generally don’t need as many car parking spaces. Up to 40 per cent of private car parks in Melbourne's central city are always empty.
Reducing car parking requirements will help make the best use of high-value land in well-serviced areas and will reduce traffic congestion by encouraging fewer cars to come and go in busy areas.
The changes also cut red tape for councils and developers who want to reduce the number of car parks in a development by removing the need to apply for a permit in certain areas. This will give more Victorians the choice to align their parking needs with how they commute, and will lower the costs for developments that have fewer car parks.
The reforms support Victoria to meet our emission reduction targets by making it cheaper and easier for more commuters to shift from cars to active and sustainable forms of transport.
How the changes will work
The reforms to the Car Parking provisions at Clause 52.06 of the planning scheme will assign parking rates for new use and development based on the level of public transport accessibility in an area.
We have developed a new Car Parking Requirement Map that aligns car parking rates for new homes and businesses with public transport access. It supports revised minimum car parking rates and the introduction of maximum rates in areas with better public transport accessibility.
This replaces the Principal Public Transport Network Area Map (PPTN) that has been used to assign reduced rates based on existing and future public transport services, and which did not take into account frequency and quality of transport.
Further work is underway to develop equivalent reforms to planning requirements for bike parking.
Delivering on Plan for Victoria
This reform helps to achieve Action 5 in Plan for Victoria to ‘match car and bike parking requirements and bike facilities with demand’.
Plan for Victoria is a long-term plan for the whole state that’s about delivering more homes, more jobs and great communities. Launched in February 2025, the plan is a 30-year blueprint for how Victoria will support a growing population while protecting and improving all that we love about the places we live, work and play.
Further work is underway to develop equivalent reforms to planning requirements for bike parking.
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Page last updated: 03/12/25