Page 4103 - Week 11 - Tuesday, 23 October 2018

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for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence, Minister for Sport and Recreation and Minister for Women) (3.31): For the information of members, I present the following paper:

Social housing—Provision of incentives, dated October 2018, pursuant to the resolution of the Assembly of 1 August 2018.

I ask leave to make a statement in relation to the paper.

Leave granted.

MS BERRY: I am pleased to table the response to the ACT Legislative Assembly resolution of 1 August 2018 about the provision of incentives for social housing stock. I announced the outcomes of the round 1 expression of interest under the government’s new $1 million affordable housing innovation fund on 21 August 2018. Community Housing Canberra Incorporated was awarded a grant of $230,000 to establish a new affordable rental real estate management model within the ACT. This initiative will allow us to trial a new way of increasing the supply of affordable rental properties in the ACT.

As the Assembly is aware, the ACT government is developing a new ACT housing strategy, which will be released later in 2018. The new strategy will set out the government’s commitment to social and affordable housing as an important part of ensuring we can continue to provide an equitable, diverse and sustainable supply of housing for all Canberrans into the future. One of the key goals we will focus on in the new strategy will be measures to increase the availability of affordable rental properties for lower income households.

So as not to anticipate the release of the new ACT housing strategy, the attached report does not commit to introduce any new incentives at this stage, but it identifies some of the implementation issues that may be involved with delivery. Some of the issues covered include cost impacts and viability, and feedback received during consultation with the community sector, community housing providers and the real estate and property sector as part of the development of the new housing strategy. I commend this report to the Assembly.

MS LE COUTEUR (Murrumbidgee) (3.33), by leave: I thank the minister for the report. I look forward to seeing the report, as distinct from the brief comments, so I can only make very brief comments myself. I am pleased to hear the government will look at long-term management, and I am looking forward to seeing how it calculates the demand for public housing. Clearly, however it is calculated at the moment, we have not got enough of it right now. I think every member of the Assembly would agree with that.

Again, I am looking forward to the actual statement because the motion dealt with more than just land tax; it also dealt with rates issues. We have the situation that if you are a tenant of a community housing provider and you are entitled to rates rebates, the community housing provider does not get those on your behalf.


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