Report Shows That Affordable Housing Is Hampered By Planning And Taxation

Housing affordability is being negatively impacted by poor planning and high local and state taxes, which need immediate attention.
The Property Council of Australia’s latest study, A Stark Reality, comes to that conclusion.

To address the affordability challenge, chief executive Mike Zorbas said all three tiers of government must collaborate more closely with business.

In the report published on Wednesday in Canberra, he claimed that “poor planning processes and mediocre policy decisions continue to combine with high state and local taxes to significantly increase the cost of building each new home.”

“Expensive, overburdened, and delayed housing construction pipelines decrease the entire supply of new houses, including social, affordable, and market-rate homes, and redirect investment away from the long-term sustainability and resilience of our built environment.”

Federal, state, and municipal taxes, surcharges, and levies account for between a third and forty percent of the price of building new homes, according to the report, which called them “lethal” to affordability.

According to a survey done as part of the study, 81% of Australians think there is a shortage of affordable housing in their neighborhood.

Additionally, research revealed that 52% of people rent because they have no other choice and that 71% blame high deposit costs for their inability to purchase a home in the next five years.

The report stated that we are depriving buyers and renters of choice and opportunity, limiting social and economic mobility, and increasing pressure on the community and social housing sectors because three levels of Australian government are unable to ensure an adequate pipeline of supply for new homes and apartments.

Julie Collins, the housing minister, called it a “stark reality.”

“There aren’t enough houses here. More needs to be built, and it needs to be built sooner, and I’m eager to get started “At the unveiling of the report, she stated.

Ms. Collins informed lawmakers that she would present a bill on Thursday to establish the $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund, which would finance the construction of 30,000 new social and affordable homes over a five-year period.

It was the “single largest investment in new, affordable, and social dwellings in more than a decade,” according to the minister.
She will also present a measure to codify the National Housing Supply and Affordability Council’s independence.
The council has been tasked with assessing the obstacles to institutional financing, innovation, and investment in housing.