Labor housing plan could create problems for renters and recent home owners: Urban Taskforce
The Urban Taskforce suggest that the latest proposals by the Labor Party on housing affordability are likely to create problems for recent home owners and for renters.
Urban Task Force CEO Chris Johnson says that despite trying to help with housing affordability, the end result of Labor's proposals could reduce supply which will drive rents and home prices upwards.
“By restricting self-managed superannuation funds investment into new housing and increasing foreign investor fees the result will be to lessen the supply of new homes,” Chris said.
“It seems the intent of the packages is to reduce the value of existing housing which for those people who bought in recent years could mean that their mortgage is excessive relative to the value of the home.”
“The vacancy tax will be very difficult to implement as many people travel for long periods particularly after retirement or have a holiday house. The extent of the empty home syndrome has been blown out of proportion to reality.”
“The proposals relative to the National Affordable Housing Agreement and the National Housing Supply Council may be useful proposals for a national focus on this area.”
“The Urban Taskforce is concerned that popularist moves that appear to help those wanting to get into the housing market may result in reducing the supply of new housing significantly with the result that house prices escalate further.
Great care must be taken in the levers that are pulled in the name of housing affordability to ensure that the major investment most families make in owning a house doesn’t become destabilised.”
It was announced that under the new Labor tax system, vacancy tax will become nationwide.
The tax was recently imposed by the Victorian government to curb investors buying properties and leaving them vacant.