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The Real Estate Buyers Agents Association (REBAA) has renewed its call for a long-term housing strategy to address the housing crisis on a national scale, stressing that the problem goes beyond a state level.
The group’s statement comes in light of the Queensland government’s announcement on 13 September that it will stage a Housing Summit in October to address the urgency around multiple housing issues.
In its first step towards the Housing Summit, the Palaszczuk government held a roundtable on 16 September, which featured key government and non-government stakeholders.
During the event, property stakeholders tackled a range of issues, including the unlocking of land and housing supply, fast-tracking social housing and, crucially, the need for urgent collaboration on housing by all levels of government.
In a social media statement, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the roundtable “helped shape the agenda for the Housing Summit on 20 October”.
“We are focused on finding solutions to provide relief and access to affordable housing as quickly as possible,” the state’s Premiere added.
But REBAA president Cate Bakos said that any measures to improve housing supply for people grappling with cost-of-living pressures must be deliberated in the context of a national shortage of social rental housing, lack of supply, pending migration and tax reform policies.
“These issues are not unique to Queensland — they are happening all across Australia,” Ms Bakos emphasised.
“This is a worsening crisis that is affecting Australians who are already highly vulnerable. At the most basic level it starts with disadvantaged first home buyers pushing up the prices of the private rental market and forcing those on lower incomes into social housing and, in extreme cases, homelessness.”
She called for the federal government to work hand in hand with respective state governments to improve housing affordability by overhauling tax policies that affect demand for housing and serve as major barriers to entry for home buyers.
Ms Bakos also declared that the “smart” state would be the one that takes swift and deliberate action to deliver tax reform and state-backed incentives to bolster housing and land supply.
She enumerated other ways that state governments can lead the way in alleviating the housing crisis.
“Offering stamp duty concessions, or completely waiving stamp duty on properties up to a certain value for a limited period of time, would be a direct way to increase the supply of rental properties whilst also encouraging more first home buyers to enter the market,” she stated.
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