This failure to meet marketplace expectations has increased over the years despite the tightening of public housing eligibility criteria to the point that anyone in permanent employment is deemed not able to apply for housing, and despite the government’s oft-repeated mantra that public housing is the stepping-stone to home ownership.
A re-examination of the government policies around housing supply is urgently needed.
Perhaps the first step towards redress would be to acknowledge that housing is not a commodity for short-term speculation or a vehicle for wealth accumulation. Rather, it is the place for people to raise a family and the base from which they can be part of a community – that is, a home.
Achievement of the first step requires educating the financial sector to shift their lending priorities from financing speculation to financing home ownership. Lending practices also need to be of a responsible manner to avoid the creation of economic stress for those wishing to purchase their home.
The second step towards redress would be to recognise the fallacy of promoting home ownership as the major criteria of social acceptability and the resultant denigration of those who are not homeowners. In most established first world countries there is a substantial portion of the people who are permanent renters of properties owned by genuine long-term investors. This situation frees up money to be used to provide employment and commercial opportunity to the broader community instead of creating income for the financial sector.
The third step towards redress would be the removal of taxation concessions that fuel speculation in housing at the expense of the public purse. Australia is one of the very few countries in the world, if not the only one, that subsidise personal loss-making “investments” through the public purse. Removing these concessions would reduce the cost of buying a home and allow genuine long-term investors back into the marketplace.
Will the powers that be dance the three-step polka, or will they leave their heads firmly buried in the sand?
The length of the genuine waiting list for public housing is the true barometer of the health of the private sector housing marketplace. The length of even the shortened waiting list is a call for an ambulance.
