Affordable housing has finally been elevated to top priority for today’s Canberra meeting of Treasurers who are now joining the conversation that has been a staple for most Australians concerned that they or their loved ones face mounting housing affordability issues.
As the median detached house price sails past the million dollar mark in Sydney, Treasurers have finally joined the conversation that has been tested at every front bar, stopped backyard BBQs and become a rising concern of mums, dads and millennials in the early part of 2017.
PowerHousing Australia which represents 28 of Australia’s largest Community Housing Providers (CHPs) today urged Treasurers to not only discuss the principles of bond aggregation and affordable housing delivery for low income and key workers, but to take formative steps to develop a strategy for working cohesively for housing nationally.
PowerHousing note that there is no plan to tackle housing affordability at a national level today and whilst this persists we will see supply and demand out of alignment, mortgage to incomes keep blowing out and higher stress for the lowest income earner key workers by more and more families by the day.
The Australian market is at the point that affordable rentals, and particularly home ownership is increasingly seen by younger and lower income earners as the Australian dream and aspiration exclusive to previous generations, which unfortunately was grandfathered out with little or no notice.
The proportion of young Australians, working families and those in transition that are falling away from the prospect of owning a home increases whilst there is not a national approach to housing.
The risk here is that with wages static, house prices rising and a likely upward interest rate bias there is no room for guesswork when it comes to the provision of the most basic need of shelter.
Many of the States such as New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the Federal Government have announced positive steps so there are green shoots for hope.
Property transfer, affordable rental strategies, boosts to first home grants and the national affordable housing bond aggregation all assist but there needs to be national cohesion rather than pockets of housing opportunity. It is time that the government and greater community to acknowledge that for more and more Australians there has never been a more challenging time for housing.
For further media queries contact:
Rachel Smith, Member Services Manager, PowerHousing Australia, 0433 569 301.