Page 1294 - Week 05 - Thursday, 25 June 1992
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Rental Accommodation
MR LAMONT: My question is to the Minister for Housing and Community Services and follows some fairly poor attempts in recent weeks by the Opposition to deny what is fact in relation to rental accommodation vacancy rates in the ACT. Has the Minister seen today a press release from the Housing Industry Association relating to that matter, and will he inform the Assembly of the current state of play in regard to rental accommodation in the ACT?
MR CONNOLLY: I, as the Minister with responsibility for housing and community services, and the Chief Minister were getting quite a bit of stick from the Liberals around budget time last year when the Chief Minister introduced the land tax. The Liberal Party were screaming and yelling, saying that the land tax would result in reduced vacancy rates and difficulties in obtaining private rental accommodation.
I noted with great interest the media release just before lunch today by Mike Crowe of the Housing Industry Association, which indicates that there is a massive demand for local investment properties in Canberra; that is, new houses built for investment purposes for the private rental market. The press release states:
"At the commencement of this year Canberra's rental vacancy rate was 6%, today it is more like 3%", said Mr Crowe, a result of very strong investment buying that has seen virtually hundreds of new rental properties come onto the local market.
It is something for the Government to take some pleasure in, in that the rental housing market is doing very well, quite contrary to the alarmist predictions of this Liberal Opposition when the tax was introduced.
I note the final sentence of Mr Crowe's press release. I will be restrained; I will read it to the Assembly without comment. This sentence really makes a fine commentary on the role of this Labor Government and on the role of the Chief Minister and Treasurer in stimulating the local economy. I quote again from the Housing Industry Association:
Canberra's building industry is currently producing at the rate of over 1,000 commencements a quarter, a far cry from 600 a quarter only twelve months ago.
Twelve months ago, of course, we came into government.
Office and Shop Space
MR STEVENSON: My question is to the Chief Minister. Will the Chief Minister indicate how many square metres of office and shop space is currently being leased in the ACT and is presently unoccupied? How much of this unoccupied space is being leased by the ACT Government or any of its departments? Is it a reasonable contention that this leased empty space is artificially raising the price of real estate properties within the ACT?
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