Housing affordability dilemma

What can be done about housing affordability? We ask CEO of REIA, Amanda Lynch.

We have long advocated for the retention of negative gearing as we believe this is a highly effective tax arrangement that allows mum-and-dad investors to help secure their retirement while also importantly adding to the supply of rental properties. We also firmly believe in the abolition of stamp duties across all states and territories, as it has been proven that they are an inefficient tax that restricts population mobility. The recent senate economic committee report into housing affordability also echoed our long-standing concerns with stamp duties and also called for their abolition.

In our submission to the housing affordability report, we also called on the federal government to take a greater leadership role on housing and work with state, territory and local governments to establish mechanisms that will encourage first-home buyers back into the market. The level of first-home buyers has been persistently low for several years. We feel the government needs to provide a circuit-breaker to help attract them back. It should also explore the option of first-home buyers accessing their super to assist with their home deposit, as is the case in Canada, New Zealand and Singapore.

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