Housing has become a "political football," peak body says
The results of a government study on housing affordability demonstrate the need for a national, bipartisan plan for housing, according to the Real Estate Institute of Australia.
The Standing Committee on Tax and Revenue’s Inquiry into housing affordability and supply in Australia report made 16 recommendations for the federal government’s attention.
REIA said that housing has become a “political football” at a time when affordability is decreasing, inflationary pressures are rising and listings remain limited across the country. Hayden Groves, president of REIA, said the fundamentals of supply and affordability need bipartisan support.
“The COVID-19 pandemic allowed us to look at housing in an entirely new way and give it the attention it deserved,” Groves said. “At the height of the pandemic, homelessness challenges were addressed immediately and Australia’s 40,773-strong property management workforce stepped up and managed an imposed rental eviction moratorium. Seventeen programs were introduced by state and federal governments to assist first-home buyers achieve their dream of owning their first home, and they returned to the market in droves.”
Groves said REIA supported most of the report’s 16 final recommendations, which related directly to REIA’s own recommendations to the inquiry.
The report said that there was “a gap in government coordination and an overwhelming call for all levels of government to be better aligned and coordinated on all aspects of housing in Australia.”
“REIA advocated for policies to enable supply, to build more houses and to get government right, including phasing out stamp duty on a coordinated national basis,” Groves said. “All three of these recommendations have been met within the committee report and deliver a roadmap to significantly increase housing supply, and therefore affordability, through policy reform.”
Groves said REIA particularly supported the report’s approach to a national strategy on stamp duty.
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“A coordinated national approach is needed to phase out this antiquated tax that prevents Australians from moving houses and getting new jobs,” he said. “Stamp or transfer duties now total on average 4% of the cost of a home, with recent surveys indicating that over 90% of first-home buyers say this is a major deterrent to buying a home.”
Groves said that consultation was needed as to whether stamp duty revenue should be captured by a land tax or a broader-based tax.
Groves also said that productivity incentives for state governments to enable supply were needed, as was a review of the build-to-rent sector and an effort to provide more rent-to-buy stock for Australia’s key workers.
“The complexity and breadth of the 16 recommendations just reinforce the need for a national plan for housing affordability and supply, with both federal and state governments held accountable,” he said.
