REPORT HIGHLIGHTS NEED FOR SOCIAL HOUSING INVESTMENT

SENATOR THE HON DOUG CAMERON.
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5 years ago
REPORT HIGHLIGHTS NEED FOR SOCIAL HOUSING INVESTMENT
SENATOR THE HON DOUG CAMERON
The new Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute’s (AHURI) reportinto social housing in Australia affirms Labor’s long-standing position that additional investment is critical to expanding social and affordable housing stock.

The Australian housing market is failing under the Liberals hands-off approach with increasing numbers of people not having access to safe and affordable housing.

The Liberals have no plan to invest in the supply of affordable and social housing.

AHURI estimates there is a 520,000 shortfall of affordable rental properties in Australia, and that an additional 727,000 dwellings will be needed over the next 20 years to meet demand.

This is why a Labor government would reform and extend the National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS) to provide incentives for the construction of 250,000 new affordable homes over 10 years.
 
The AHURI report is further evidence that the Liberals’ inaction is worsening the housing crisis and exacerbating social inequality.
 
Instead, this divided and dysfunctional Government’s priority is to maintain the world’s most generous tax concessions for wealthy investors and property speculators at the expense of renters, first‐home buyers and people at risk of homelessness.
 
Since being elected in 2013, the Coalition has slashed initiatives that were working to address Australia’s critical shortage of affordable housing.
 
This includes scrapping the original NRAS, despite it attracting private investment of $13 billion and delivering 37,000 affordable rental dwellings.
 
Key stakeholders including the Housing Industry Association, Urban Development Institute of Australia and National Shelter all opposed the Liberal Government’s scrapping of the scheme.
 
In stark contrast, Labor believes the Liberals’ affordable housing crisis demands national leadership.
 
This is why Labor has committed to the largest federal investment in housing since WWII.
 
Labor’s revised NRAS will drive residential construction and establish a secure long-term pipeline of investment on the scale required to address the massive shortfall.
 
This will build the capacity of the community housing sector, boost employment and address the profound shortage of affordable housing in Australia.
 
 
Housing