The Aussies seem to make a land rent scheme work in Canberra, Australia, which was founded on Garden City principles. The Land Rent Scheme is part of the ACT Government’s Affordable Housing Action Plan. The scheme gives people the option of renting land through a land rent lease rather than purchasing the land to build a home.
Under the scheme, people who purchase a single-dwelling residential block (previously unleased land) from the Suburban Land Agency can apply for their Crown lease to be a land rent lease. For potential lessees, choosing this option means reducing the up-front costs associated with owning a home. Lessees don’t need to finance the cost of the land; they need to finance only the costs associated with the transfer of the land (such as duty) and the construction of the home.
For land that you rent under a land rent lease, you pay an annual land rent charge, rates and land tax, if it applies.
The government land rent scheme was 4% with a discounted rate of 2% for families on low to middle incomes. The Government land rent is calculated on the unimproved value of land and lessees are required to construct a house on the land within two years of the lease being granted.
Diary of a Wannabe Self Builder 