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“A worker’s home is their castle” is the message being sent by the Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA) as it implores the Federal government to tackle employment and housing problems simultaneously.
Ahead of the Jobs and Skills Summit, which kicks off in Canberra today, 1 September 2022, REIA president Hayden Groves has explained that housing policy must keep pace with skills policy.
He believes that, in light of the growing number of workers needed across a wide range of sectors, any skills reform would only be successful if priority is placed with housing at federal and state levels.
“Housing supply has decreased to the lowest on record as all sectors suffer significant and prolonged skills shortages,” he said.
“We need at a minimum another 165,000 more homes by 2030. To deal with that we need more skilled workers.
“One of the primary outcomes of the Skills Summit should be to bring forward building more homes and better using our existing housing inventory.”
Key action points outlined by the institute include:
Existing homes:
- Provide priority incentives (i.e., land tax and rates waivers) for property owners to house key workers in both Australia’s cities and regions
- Audit all local, state and federal government housing and land to identify vacant homes and land that could be reintroduced into the rental pool for key workers or development sites
- Phase out stamp duty, which could increase housing supply within the existing housing inventory by up to 50 per cent
New homes:
- Urgently develop a crisis study and supply chain strategy to build more homes
- States and territories to implement an urgent land release action plan — akin to the recent plan announced by the NSW state government to fast-track housing supply
- Look at new innovations that can be rapidly implemented to provide temporary worker accommodation
The REIA’s latest requests of the government follow its plea a fortnight ago to use the two-day summit to prioritise real estate job shortages that are fuelling the housing crisis.
Mr Groves urged the government that — with a national shortage of property managers amounting to 3,000 — focus needs to be diverted to addressing this under-supply issue.
Moreover, the institute’s initial recommendations included an action plan for the 47th Parliament, which include key requests such as:
- An immediate and evidence-based rapid response skills crisis study be commissioned by the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations
- The Jobs and Skills Australia body include representation from small business and non-unionised workforces
- Partial or full reinstatement of the JobTrainer Fund employment support subsidies
- Make all sectors eligible for the Priority Occupation Skilled Occupation list
Regarding actions the government needs to take on housing and rental supply and affordability, the institute outlined them as being:
- Undertaking urgent modelling showing how the skills crunch across building, construction and property services is impacting rental and housing supply and affordability Australia-wide across the pipeline of new builds and existing housing inventory
- Developing a plan, together with the REIA, to harmonise real estate regulation Australia-wide to ensure the highest possible standards that meet national curriculum reform
- Funding a recruitment campaign and bespoke training program to get Australians working in property management
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