My Daily Advertiser Op Ed column for Tuesday 23 April 2024

by ray goodlass

Australians want real action on housing now

Australians think the housing system is failing and support a range of more radical solutions, including the Greens’ public sector property developer plan and, worryingly, the Coalition’s push to use super for housing.

Those are the results of the latest Guardian Essential poll of 1,165 voters which sends a warning shot to the Albanese government and state governments to do more to combat falling home ownership and higher rents. Let’s look at the detail of the poll’s findings, given that house prices and rental rates are one of the major problems we are facing today.

“Fewer than one in 10 (9%) of respondents said the housing system was “largely working well” for homeowners and renters and “does not require change”. Some 43% thought the system was “fundamentally broken” and 47% said it was “not working in some parts and needs change in those areas” wrote Paul Karp in the Guardian Australia.

More respondents were hoping that house prices would reduce (40%) or stabilise (45%) than wanted to see them continue to rise (15%).

The majority (73%) of respondents believe housing “should be a basic human right that everyone should have access to”, far higher than those who described it as a “foundation for vibrant neighbourhoods and communities” (18%) or “a vehicle for growing personal wealth” (9%).

But asked how the housing system was now operating, 35% described it as a “vehicle for growing personal wealth”.

Respondents gave poor marks to all levels of government for their handling of housing: On the state government’s role to “provide social housing and regulate rentals”, 50% said it was doing a poor job while 19% said it was doing a good job. On the federal government’s role to “set policies on how homes should be taxed”, 47% said it was doing a poor job and 19% said a good job. On the local government’s role to “establish planning rules for local communities”, 41% said it was doing a poor job and 23% said a good job.

Back in March Guardian Australia revealed the Coalition was looking to expand its super for housing policy including allowing first home buyers to withdraw more and existing homeowners to pay super into a mortgage offset account. The Greens have proposed a public property developer to build and sell or rent properties at below-market rates.

According to the poll, the most popular housing policy is to “provide additional support to not-for-profit community housing providers to deliver social housing”, a proposition supported by 68% of respondents.

There was also majority support for allowing first home buyers to use super for housing (57%), expanding public sector property development to limit private sector property prices (56%), and a shared equity scheme (54%).

Last year the Albanese government legislated the grandly titled Housing Australia Future fund (HAFF) but only tipped $3bn more into social and affordable housing during negotiations with the Greens. Labor’s remaining unlegislated election commitment on housing is the Help to Buy shared equity scheme, which faces resistance and delay from the Coalition and the Greens. The Coalition doesn’t like it because it is government interference in the free market economy and the Greens correctly argue that it doesn’t go far enough.

Quite rightly, the Greens and crossbench want the government to crack down on negative gearing and capital gains tax concessions, a policy supported by 51% of the poll respondents.

The financial gains from negative gearing and the capital gains tax concessions are most likely the major cause underlying housing becoming a significant contributor to the creation of personal wealth. In other words, housing becomes a personal wealth creator, a commodity rather than shelter, which should be seen as a human right. It is high time both negative gearing and the housing capital gains tax were abolished.