The Property Council of Australia is presenting policy ideas to the Government that will support homeownership for younger Australians while also boosting housing supply.
Property Council Chief Executive Mike Zorbas addressed a Senate Inquiry, emphasising the need for housing targets and improved reporting on performance across all levels of government.
“Housing targets are our main hope of leaving the federal, state and local government blame shifting of the last few decades behind us,” Mr Zorbas said.
He said it was vital to have a national approach to tracking progress on housing goals, suggesting this could drive improvements in planning and address housing deficits.
Beyond supply issues, Mr Zorbas said there is a need to address barriers to finance for potential homebuyers.
“We need to ensure that home loans are not just for the wealthy and that we are giving first homebuyers a realistic chance at accessing credit for housing,” he said.
The Property Council is advocating for a holistic review of the home purchase process, and said that low savings rates, large deposit requirement and hefty taxes and charges are significant obstacles to home ownership.
Mr Zorbas said there are several challenges facing the housing market, including high financing costs, strong household formation, immigration pressures, rising construction costs and planning delays.
He also said there were issues such as decreasing construction productivity, labour market competition and disruptive state property taxes as factors contributing to the current housing crisis.
Mr Zorbas said cutting taxes would go a long way to boosting access to housing for all Australians.
“We need to look holistically at the purchase process,” he said.
“Low saving rates with large deposit requirements, and taxes and charges that amount to a third of the price of new homes all serve as blockers to home ownership.”
The post Help on the way for first-home buyers appeared first on Elite Agent.
