The government will push states to remove unnecessary residential land use planning regulations that are impeding the supply of housing, Treasurer Scott Morrison will say in a major speech.
The renting class faces the unrelenting burden of ever-rising rents.
AAP/Mick Tsikas
Without long-term solutions to the imbalance between incomes and house prices, Gen Ys face a lifetime of renting without the financial and emotional security of home ownership.
A national housing policy is needed that recognises how all the sectors – buying, renting, investing, social housing or homeless – are connected.
AAP/Paul Miller
A decent national housing policy is not just about the million or so Australians who are in housing need, marginal housing or homeless. In reality, all the housing sectors are connected.
Negative gearing has been untouched for 30 years because it increases housing supply and the stock of rental properties.
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Negative gearing reform is complex and fraught, with a chequered recent history. The key to any future reform will be finding a way to equitably change it without losing its benefit.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has turned his back on any meaningful reform to the way Australia taxes housing.
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It makes sense for the federal government to grease the wheels of federal-state tax reform.
It’s unfortunate that demographic shifts mean that young Australians will have to support a large number of older Australians. But it is not an injustice.
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Young people are not entitled to a life as comfortable as that of their parents, but they are entitled to expect that governments will not hinder them in that pursuit.
Before entering politics, Scott Morrison was employed to develop policy for the Property Council of Australia, which is now leading the charge against negative-gearing reform.
AAP/Mick Tsikas
The default position for politicians is to sound concerned about housing affordability, but do nothing. This can be explained by the idea of ‘policy capture’, in this case by industry interests.
A key problem with working out the impacts of negative gearing is that we don’t know exactly which properties it affects or the status of their tenants.
AAP/Dan Peled
What if there was a middle option between retention and abolition that made negative gearing work better? There are multiple ways to improve accountability for this $8 billion-a-year tax concession.
Labor’s Chris Bowen and Bill Shorten announced plans for new tax rules, and the government, even as it attacked their plan, has also opened the door to changes to negative gearing.
AAP/Gemma Najen
The problem is there are already too many buyers willing to pay high prices, and negative gearing is designed to create more buyers willing to pay more.
The housing problems experienced by low-income households are a symptom of entrenched inequality within Australia.
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Government policy has not, on the whole, failed. It has been a huge success insofar as protecting the opportunities for speculative investment and profit for homeowners and private landlords.
Housing affordability, especially in Sydney, is now a source of political protests and the NSW government has announced a funding scheme with the potential to ease the pressure.
AAP/Teresa Parker
In what looks to be a landmark policy announcement with possible national ramifications, the NSW government has outlined the first phase of a $1 billion fund to develop social and affordable housing.
The cost of downsizing puts many older Australians off.
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There are far too many financial incentives keeping older Australians from choosing to downsize.
City residents are embracing the bike as the fastest, most convenient transport in areas like Brunswick, yet an apartment building has been blocked for not providing car parking.
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It’s up to state governments to ensure urban planning rules properly reflect both the desires of residents in the 21st century and the principles of sustainability.
Replacing old apartments with new ones may not improve affordability.
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New research released today shows that changes to NSW strata law that allow the sale of apartments against the owner’s wishes likely won’t improve housing affordability or availability.
Australia’s current housing options are not future-proofed for its ageing population.
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With a booming life expectancy, there is a need for collective, intergenerational discussion and ideas around how to better design housing in Australia’s communities and cities.
Property comes at a hefty premium in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
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Professor; School of Economics, Finance and Property, and Director, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, Curtin Research Centre, Curtin University