Community housing organisation Haven; Home Safe has described federal Labor’s plan to subsidise rent for low and middle-income earners as a “game changer” for the nation.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Opposition leader Bill Shorten on Sunday announced his party’s housing affordability plan, which could see 250,000 new homes over the next decade, at the ALP national conference in Adelaide.
The $6.6-billion scheme will ensure investors who build new properties would get a subsidy of $8500 a year, provided they keep the rent at 20 per cent below market rates.
Around 20,000 new homes and units could be built in the first term of a Labor government.
The federal election is expected in the first quarter of 2019.
Read more:
Haven; Home, Safe chief executive officer Ken Marchingo said: “Housing affordability is not just a problem for individuals. It is a problem for the economy as a whole. Poor housing infrastructure reduces labour mobility and productivity, discouraging workers from migrating towards areas of economic development and job growth.”
“Yesterday’s announcement shows national leadership on housing affordability and will go a long way towards addressing the massive shortfall of social housing units.
“It’s time to get cracking. It’s time we became the nation we should be, where no one gets left behind.”
Labor’s housing plan is similar to the National Rental Affordability Scheme which was scrapped after two years in 2013.
Mr Marchingo in June told the Bendigo Advertiser he hoped the federal government would develop a clearer national housing policy, referencing the success of the NRAS, which created 38,000 rentals across Australia by offering housing providers a financial incentive to build cheaper dwellings.
State Labor made an election promise to build 1000 new public housing properties in Victoria over three years.
However Bendigo did not feature in a statement detailing the government’s plans for the $209 million investment.
Housing Minister Martin Foley said in the previous term of government Labor had acquired an additional 68 properties in the Greater Bendigo region, providing more homes for those who need them most.
“We’re also investing $10 million to improve public housing in the Virginia Hill estate, and have already spent $16.9 million in upgrades to 171 properties across Bendigo,” he said at the time.
Have you signed up to the Bendigo Advertiser's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in central Victoria.
