A great number of people go all their lives without having heard or seen the compelling ideas of Thomas Paine and Henry George.
That’s not entirely coincidental.
Many people have supported their ideas, maybe not as thoroughly or forthrightly, but these are generally praised for things other than how humanity’s socio-economic progess may be vastly improved.
We’re allowing yet another tax regime-fostered real estate bubble to bursts into financial depression, so, come the 2026 worldwide bubble-burst, what should we do? (Skip through the introductory 30-second slide.)
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AN alarming large number of Australians are being pushed to the brink of poverty and homelessness due to the explosion in rents and the dwindling supply of social housing, according to the Productivity Commission. An alliance of property, community housing, social services, union and industry superannuation groups has called on the government to address the worsening crisis, which is expected to be a hot issue at this year’s federal election.
The Commission’s Report on Government Services shows a staggering 45.7% of people receiving Commonwealth Rent Assistance still spent more than 30% of their income on housing – the common definition of housing stress.
That was up from 40.5% in 2019 and 29.4% in 2020, when the Coronavirus supplement payment temporarily improved income security.
The data also reveals the vulnerability of older Australians to the spike in rents. Almost one-third of households receiving Commonwealth Rent Assistance with a person over 75 paid more than 30% of the income on rent.
At the same time, the Commission found the supply of social housing has not kept pace with population growth.
Despite Australia’s population growing 13.2% since 2012, the supply of social housing has only increased by a meagre 4.5%.
Everybody’s Home national spokesperson Kate Colvin said Australians were being squeezed at both ends of the housing system.
“The Australian rental market now resembles a great white shark, swallowing family incomes almost whole. It’s simply astounding that even after receiving rent assistance, almost half of households are still in housing stress.
“The supply of affordable homes is rapidly vanishing for people on low and modest incomes as rents skyrocket. When federal politicians talk about a supply problem they need to get their priorities straight, we need more social and affordable housing to give people on modest incomes real choice,” she added. “COVID has completely warped our housing market. The benefits are being funnelled to those who already own housing while people in the rental market are forced into a brutal contest for survival,”
Colvin said the best way to address this is to lift the historically low rates of social housing investment.
“We need at least 25,000 new social housing units built per year just to begin closing the widening housing gap. We also need a serious adjustment to Commonwealth Rent Assistance that reflects the reality of surging rents in Australia.” Colvin said.
NAHA policy could deliver 14,950 social homes
An alliance of peak property, building, community housing, social services, union and industry superannuation groups is proposing new policy measures to address the worsening housing crisis.
The Australian Council of Trade Unions, the Australian Council of Social Service, the Community Housing Industry Association, Industry Super Australia, Homelessness Australia, the Housing Industry Association, Master Builders Australia, National Shelter and the Property Council of Australia’s policy options proposed in a landmark new paper released today could deliver 11,150 to 14,950 additional social and affordable homes per annum on top of the new supply already being created by state and territory governments through separate initiatives.
The policies aim to leverage new sources of private sector capital and Australia’s residential development capabilities, which are among the most efficient housing delivery mechanisms in the world.
“Significantly improving people’s access to housing that is safe, secure and affordable for the occupants has to be put high on the policy agenda for 2022 and beyond,” said National Affordable Housing Alliance (NAHA) Chair Rod Fehring.
“Despite significant efforts by governments, as well as community, and the private sector over the past thirty-plus years, Australia’s social and affordable housing and homelessness crisis has continued to worsen.” Fehring said.
A recent independent review for the Australian Government found that ‘an investment of around $290 billion will be required over the next two decades to meet the shortfall in social and affordable housing dwellings.’[1]
“The longer the challenge goes without solutions that match the scale of the problem, the more acute it will become with profound social and economic implications.
“We must urgently adopt new approaches backed by new alliances, supporters and sources of capital, to not only halt but gradually reverse this decline and substantially increase the supply of social and affordable housing in an enduring, systematic and self-sustaining way,” he added.
NAHA’s members are advocating for the implementation of four initial core policies:
NAHA is also seeking a commitment to the development of an integrated database that tracks the delivery of social and affordable housing delivery at a national and regional level to ensure that capital is deployed where need is greatest.
“A long-term dataset is critical in ensuring that both transparency and accountability in the delivery of the right types of housing on the right terms in the right locations,” Fehring said.
Of the total net new additional supply created by the application of this policy suite, NAHA’ s position is that a minimum of 25% be dedicated to addressing the needs of the most vulnerable households as social housing with rents capped below 30% of household income.
2022 Federal Election
The worsening housing crisis is expected to a major issue at the upcoming 2022 federal election, expected to be called by Prime Minister Scott Morrison around May this year.
During the initial outbreak of COVID-19 the Morrison and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg unveiled major packages such as HomeBuilder to shore up the property industry, however social housing missed out.
Labor leader Anthony Albanese has pledged $10 billion to deliver 20,000 social housing properties over the next five years, if elected.
All states and territory governments have committed to boosting social housing stock in their respective jurisdictions, including Victoria’s Andrews government which has committed an unprecedented $5.3 billion to construct more than 12,000 new homes.
