Report on housing policy http://grattan.edu.au/static/files/assets/6aae95cf/800_Renovating_Housing.pdf
Grattan Institute: Renovating Housing
- Thread starter Peter Parker
- Start date
I attended the forum held.
A good write-up is here: http://www.propertyobserver.com.au/...ce=po&utm_medium=aida&utm_campaign=latestnews
Overall, like many public forums, I found it disappointing. The moderator did not sufficiently tease out points of agreement. At several times they were talking past each other and prescriptions were ridden with conflicting consequences.
Grattan said that tenant leases should be longer to make renting more stable. However they agreed (with PCA) with replacing stamp duty with land tax. This would make it easier for older people to downsize to a smaller place, but would also reward trader-style investors vis a vis buy & hold investors (meaning reduced certainty for tenants).
To cheapen houses greatly you need to either build more or cut demand (emigration, people moving back in with mum & dad, singles opting to share etc).
All the other stuff (eg tax policy) is just shifting things between renters, investors and buyers but is probably less significant than the 'big picture'. Even reducing lending LVRs might initially improve affordability (less money chasing same number of houses) but longer term may not if rationed credit restricts new housing construction.
A good write-up is here: http://www.propertyobserver.com.au/...ce=po&utm_medium=aida&utm_campaign=latestnews
Overall, like many public forums, I found it disappointing. The moderator did not sufficiently tease out points of agreement. At several times they were talking past each other and prescriptions were ridden with conflicting consequences.
Grattan said that tenant leases should be longer to make renting more stable. However they agreed (with PCA) with replacing stamp duty with land tax. This would make it easier for older people to downsize to a smaller place, but would also reward trader-style investors vis a vis buy & hold investors (meaning reduced certainty for tenants).
To cheapen houses greatly you need to either build more or cut demand (emigration, people moving back in with mum & dad, singles opting to share etc).
All the other stuff (eg tax policy) is just shifting things between renters, investors and buyers but is probably less significant than the 'big picture'. Even reducing lending LVRs might initially improve affordability (less money chasing same number of houses) but longer term may not if rationed credit restricts new housing construction.
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