31 October 2008
The Greens proposal for 25 per cent of all new housing developments to be nationalised was straight out of Maos Little Red book, according to Aaron Gadiel, chief executive of the Urban Taskforce.
The law would require up to 25 per cent of all new private sector housing to be handed over to local councils, the Department of Housing or housing organisations named by the government.
Mr Gadiel said that the biggest single barrier to new affordable housing being built is the red tape erected by local councils, with heavy development levies a close second.
Local councils have enough trouble fulfilling the responsibilities they already have, Mr Gadiel said.
The last thing they should do is nationalise homes built by the private sector, and become landlords.
Mr Gadiel said that NSWs housing affordability mess couldnt be solved by increased taxes on new housing or by passing laws forcing the private sector to build for the government.
Lack of affordability is caused by an under-supply of new housing.
We need extra housing to be built in order to make homes more affordable for renters and first home buyers alike. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the number of houses under construction has fallen every year in NSW since 2001/2002 falling again last year by 0.5 per cent.
Over the last seven years in NSW, on average, work has started on 20,000 houses a year, Mr Gadiel said. However, in the 2007/2008 period, work started on just 16,000 houses in NSW.
While work started on 14,000 medium and high density homes in NSW last financial year, this is still 36 per cent down on the 2002/2003 financial years figure of 23,000.
There is a huge human cost from the lack of new homes, Mr Gadiel said.
In August, the NSW Government Rent and Sales Report revealed a massive jump in Sydney rents for the last financial year.
Sydneys seen an 18 per cent increase in rents for three bedroom homes and a 15 per cent increase for two bedroom apartments in the last financial year, Mr Gadiel said.
Developers would love to build a lot more homes and help keep a lid on escalating rents, Mr Gadiel said.
But we need a major reduction in red tape, less rigid planning rules and much lower development levies, before this can happen.
The Urban Taskforce is a property development industry group, representing Australias most prominent property developers and equity financiers.
