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Urban Taskforce Australia CEO, Tom Forrest, today welcomed today’s announcement of support for first home buyers and the investment of a fresh $10 billion to build up to 100,000 new homes.
Urban Taskforce particularly welcomes the fresh approach from the Albanese Government which sees the solution to the housing supply crisis as a partnership between governments (Federal, State and Local) and the private sector property development community.
If they get their skates on to get this system going, there is hope for the Housing Accord targets yet.
Today’s statement from the Prime Minister said:
“We know the long-term fix to housing is to build more homes. That’s why the Albanese Government will also invest $10 billion to partner with state developers and industry, to build up to 100,000 homes – with these homes reserved for sale only to first home buyers.”
The government has put working with the private sector to deliver housing supply front and centre of the policy solution and has put dollars on the table to support it.
Further support for first home buyers will come in the form of an effective underwriting of 15% of the value of a property, effectively meaning that the buyer does not have to secure Lenders Mortgage Insurance. That means that first home buyers will be able to secure a new home with a 5% deposit.
Price caps have been adjusted significantly to make them widely relevant to the prices of new homes in each capital city and region. This is a repeat of the amendments to the Help to Buy scheme announced in the Budget and is sensible.
With three weeks left in the election campaign, Urban Taskforce members are still looking to both sides of politics to commit to significant support for housing related infrastructure through a dedicated fund.
Urban Taskforce released on Thursday a Research Paper entitled: “What makes housing so expensive?”.
Sydney’s housing affordability crisis is being directly fuelled by excessive government regulation, the highest property taxes in Australia, and complex planning requirements, according to the new research paper by Urban Taskforce titled Urban Ideas – What Makes Housing so Expensive?
The Report identified the following as essential to making homes more affordable:
- Reduction in property taxes and development charges
- Cutting infrastructure fees that flow onto new home prices
- Cutting planning over-regulation
- Making housing supply a legislated objective of the planning laws
- Stripping back design review processes.
The States cannot be expected to house the economy boosting wave of immigration, which boosts the Treasury coffers in Canberra, without support for delivery of the infrastructure required to house them.
Both the measures announced today are welcome. But we will be looking for infrastructure investment – roads and water infrastructure in particular – to complete the picture.
Any support for the States and local government must be matched by a commensurate reduction in their proposed infrastructure fees and charges, which have crippled project feasibility and held back supply for too long.
The Coalition has pledged to work with APRA to reduce the 3% prudential buffer which mandates that the banks assess the capacity of a loan applicant to re-pay the mortgage on the assumption that rates will rise by 3%.
In the current economic and international context, this APRA buffer is plainly ridiculous and is stopping home buyers from securing finance. A bi-partisan approach to cutting back this “buffer” policy is desperately needed.
End.