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It's time we took the high cost of housing seriously

By Adrian Pisarski - posted Friday, 4 June 2004


All Australians are concerned about securing a roof over their head and for many affordable housing remains out of reach. Yet this basic need has not been given the attention it deserves.

Housing is in a state of crisis with increasing numbers of Australians being left homeless or unable to sustain increasing housing costs.

On any given night in Australia, more than 105,000 people are sleeping on the streets. In 2001-2002 supported accommodation services reported a total of 50,800 children accompanying homeless adults.

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The great Australian dream of a house and yard has eluded many families. Often those with a place to live struggle to meet rental and mortgage costs. Australians on the lowest 20 per cent of incomes spend on average 64 per cent of that income on housing costs.

There are 250,000 people living in capital cities suffering what is known as extreme housing stress. Housing stress is experienced when a household’s accommodation costs do not leave sufficient income to afford the other necessities of life. If the current trends continue, this figure will rise to 1 million by 2020.

In the meantime, government support for people needing low-cost housing has decreased. Public housing has declined from 6.2 per cent of total housing stock in 1994 to 4.7 per cent in 2001 (ABS 1996 & 2001). The overall decline in funding under the Commonwealth State Housing Agreement (CSHA) over the last decade has been inconsistent with the increase in housing related poverty. The Australian Government has not increased its direct expenditures and tax incentives to encourage the provision and financing of affordable housing, despite the urgent need for such assistance.

It has been estimated that to address the existing shortfall in private rental accommodation would require an additional 150,000 homes. To put this in perspective, that is around the total number of new homes built in Australia in a typical year.

First home buyers are becoming rare. Despite direct grants and stamp duty concessions, the first home owners’ share of the housing market has plummeted. In March 2004, to buy a median first home in Australia required a minimum household income of $77,400 (pdf, 37KB).

Government policy settings through regulation, taxation and spending can impact substantially on housing markets. However, current settings do not adequately take into account their effect on the availability and cost of housing services. The absence of a dedicated housing policy focus has led to a boom-and-bust real estate cycle which excludes many Australians from entering the market.

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Clearly, leadership is needed to raise the alarm over these issues and to point the way to a more sustainable approach to housing. With this view, the National Housing alliance was formed and is today issuing a Four Point Plan to begin grappling with accessibility and affordability of housing.

Point 1:

The National Housing Alliance calls for the Australian Government to commit to the goal of affordable housing for all Australians and develop a National Housing Policy led by a Minister for Housing at Cabinet level.

Point 2:

The Australian government should adopt fiscal and supply side initiatives to increase the availability of affordable housing for the home ownership, private rental and social housing segments.

Point 3:

Governments across Australia should act now to reform and standardise planning systems to make them far more efficient, lower-cost, open and, accountable.

Point 4:

The Australian government should recognise and address the negative economic, industrial and personal impacts of the "boom / bust cycles" in the residential development and home building industry, through policy initiatives to provide greater stability to industry, employees and consumers.

National Housing Alliance members are all the peak representatives across the housing market – building unions, industry associations and community organisations. Its members include the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS), the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), the Community Housing Federation of Australia (CHFA), the Housing Industry Association (HIA), National Shelter (NS) and the Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA).

The National Housing Alliance is calling for reform across all tenure types - private rental, social housing and home ownership. Rather than every level of Government buck-passing blame to other levels of Government the Alliance calls for a new national cooperative approach to tackle the causes of spiralling housing costs. The formation of this Alliance, amongst partners from across the spectrum of housing industry and policy interests, exemplifies the cooperation that will be required to deliver a more coherent, progressive approach to housing in Australia.

The Australian’s dream of securing their own home should not be left to become further and further out of their reach. The National Housing Alliance seeks to meet this ideal by demonstrating there are down-to-earth solutions and alternatives to current housing problems. It is time the benefits of economic growth, a Federal Budget surplus and renewed cooperation between industry, policy and social service groups were utilized to build a national policy that helps Australians secure a roof over their heads.

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Article edited by Robert Standish-White.
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About the Author

Adrian Pisarski is spokesperson or the National Housing Alliance.

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