Page 4432 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 30 October 2018
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crisis. We have a relatively high proportion of social housing. The ACT government has significant control over land release and is the planner for the ACT. However, having so many areas of housing policy, from land release to renters’ rights, dealt with in a holistic document is very welcome. The corollary of this, unfortunately, is that the strategy is a high-level document and, at the risk of sounding trite, the devil is in the detail and of course in the funding. If the component parts of the strategy are not properly funded and implemented then it can only go some small way towards increasing housing affordability.
It is crucial that quantifiable targets for the measures outlined in the housing strategy be developed and published. The new ACT government homes and housing website should act as the natural clearing house for this type of information and provide links to other relevant information, such as the indicative land release program and the ACT land and property report.
As the strategy is rolled out, the Greens believe that it is also important that ACT Shelter be properly funded. This will enable the organisation to better perform its role as the voice for both housing and homelessness providers, as well as low income housing consumers. In addition, as this process has shown, there is a strong role for organisations such as Shelter in policy development.
One of the welcome headline measures in the housing strategy is the announcement of $100 million over five years for new public housing stock and the renewal of existing stock. The Greens welcome this funding commitment. It is worth noting, however, that this only works out at $20 million per year or, on the basis of the government’s comments, we think about 40 additional public housing dwellings. Based on construction figures for the last three years, we can expect that this will represent less than one per cent of new housing stock. It is welcome but, on its own, certainly not enough to maintain our current level of social housing, even taking into account the ACT housing capital renewal program. To put this into perspective, the nation-building and economic stimulus plan social housing initiative provided $87 million for the ACT between 2008 and 2010 and delivered nearly 300 new social housing dwellings.
The Greens also applaud the transfer of 151 dwellings to the community housing sector. This is a very welcome departure from some of Minister Berry’s previous comments about the not-for-profit community housing sector. But the component of the strategy that has the potential to be most transformative is the commitment to dedicate 15 per cent of the indicative land release program to public, community and affordable purchase and rental housing. It is unclear to me how this relates to the target of 20 per cent affordable properties for purchase in greenfield sites, but I am assuming that it is going to make the 20 per cent target obsolete.
The 15 per cent target will cover infill as well as greenfield and affordable rental, as well as purchase. It is in the rental area rather than affordable purchase where the need is greatest and where the most difference can be made. What we do not yet is how this 15 per cent is going to be made up. Will 14 per cent be affordable purchase and one per cent public and community housing, or vice versa? How much will be rental?
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