This story contains reference to domestic violence.
The private market won’t solve Australia’s housing crisis, according to a new report that urges the federal government to pour more money into building social housing.
The People’s Commission into Australia’s Housing Crisis released its report on Wednesday following an inquiry led by former Labor senator Doug Cameron and Nicole Gurran, a professor from the University of Sydney’s School of Architecture, Design and Planning.
More than 1,528 Australians gave testimony as part of the report. They included 798 renters in the public, community and private housing markets; 517 homeowners; 102 people without a stable income; and 111 in “other” housing types.
This is some of what it found.
The impact of the housing crisis on Australians
Some 58 per cent of respondents were spending more than 30 per cent of their household income on housing expenses such as rent or mortgage repayments.
“For most people, rent needs to be no more than 30 per cent of a household budget to avoid financial stress and difficult choices,” the report says.
In order to cope with housing costs, 52 per cent of respondents had . But about a third reported skipping meals, and nearly a fifth had sought . About one in 10 had .
As well as responses from individuals, the inquiry also received 121 submissions from organisations and experts — some 82 of which were involved in service delivery such as financial counselling and .
Two primary impacts of the housing crisis included the inability to secure affordable and suitable housing (81 per cent ranked this as one of the biggest impacts), followed by homelessness (75 per cent).
Secondary impacts were also examined. Many organisation (90 per cent) said the housing crisis was causing their clients mental stress or ill-health, while 57 per cent said clients were forgoing meals, medication or other essential services.
Two women said they were left homeless after fleeing an abusive relationship with their children.
Another woman said her house was “crumbling” around her and she had respiratory issues from the dust and mould.
A representative from the Murra Mia Aboriginal Corporation said members of his community lived in poverty in dilapidated and overcrowded dwellings.
Private markets failing to solve the problem
The report is critical of what it suggests is an unwavering belief in the private market’s ability to fix the housing crisis.
The Greens have also been critical of this, as the party continues to clash with the federal government o, including and tax changes to incentivise .
Greens housing minister Max Chandler-Mather has encouraged the recently-appointed housing minister Clare O’Neil to consider the Greens’ plan to set up a government developer to build affordable homes, phase out negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount, co-ordinate a rent two-year freeze and caps on increases, and double social housing funding.
But the government has accused the Greens of looking for ways to stop it building homes.
“What we need now is more homes, rather than more political grand-standing,” Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt said recently.
The report is critical of what it suggests is an unwavering belief in the private market’s ability to fix the housing crisis.
The report says housing production must keep up with population growth but claims this, at best, will only achieve equilibrium.
“With house prices and rents already beyond the reach of many low- and moderate-income earners, achieving market, equilibrium will not be enough to restore affordability,” it says.
It says the government needs to invest heavily in .
Social housing the ‘only way’ to end Australia’s housing crisis
“Given the abject failure of the private market to provide affordable housing, it is past time for governments to invest in the development of social housing,” the report says.
“This is the only way that every Australian can have a safe and secure place to call home.”
It labels the government’s Housing Australia Future Fund — which aims to build 30,000 social housing and affordable dwellings over the next five years — as a “welcome first step”, but it was not enough to fix the crisis.
It says the government should create 750,000 social homes within two decades.
“An increased and ongoing investment program is needed to end the social housing shortfall,” the report says. “Governments must again take up their responsibility to ensure affordable homes for every Australian, including essential workers whose roles are vital to the health, safety and stability of our communities.”
A Greens-commissioned analysis by the Parliamentary Library, released on Tuesday, found teachers, nurses and childcare workers face more than a decade of saving to buy a home on their own.
It would take a solo childcare worker, typically earning $61,300 a year, a whopping 31 years to save for a deposit, the analysis found.
The report said state and local governments also had a role to play in growing social housing stock, including through the creation of favourable zoning and requiring developers to contribute to social housing stock.
The report also recommends reducing the capital gains tax discount over a decade; for the federal government to help co-ordinate rental reform across the states and territories, including limiting unfair rent increases and introducing minimum standards; and raising the rate of working age payments, such as JobSeeker, to above the poverty line.
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With reporting by the Australian Associated Press.
