‘I’m giving this one to Labor’: Waleed Aly tackles Australia’s housing affordability crisis

WALEED Aly has tackled Australia’s housing affordability crisis, siding with Labor’s proposed negative gearing plans.

WALEED Aly has tackled Australia’s housing affordability crisis and sided with Labor’s proposed negative gearing plans.

In his “something we should talk about” segment on Tuesday night’s episode of The Project, Aly addressed Labor’s plans to limit negative gearing to new properties from 2017.

“It’s hoped it will encourage real estate investors to build new properties, which will increase the number of homes available, reducing competition and hopefully making homes more affordable,” he said. “And to ensure the housing market doesn’t collapse, they’re grandfathering current investments, which means anyone who is already negative gearing properties can continue to do so until they sell their property.”

Pointing out the Coalition has been almost silent on the issue, Aly did acknowledge the Government has said it wants to reduce the ability of unions in the construction industry to call costly stoppages as well as its desire to see more land released on city fringes so more homes can be built.

Malcolm Turnbull said recently he thinks Bill Shorten’s negative gearing plans would “smash the residential housing market”. But Australian National University’s associate professor Ben Phillips did independent modelling on Labor’s negative gearing plans, and told The Project he disagrees with Mr Turnbull.

“I think the claims that the changes to negative gearing will smash the property market are overblown,” he said. “It will take some of the heat out of the market. And it will mean people are investing in housing as a property to live in as opposed to a property that’s there purely for investment purposes.”

Aly closed his segment by throwing his support behind Labor’s proposed policy.

“We finally have a policy on the table that experts say will address the housing affordability crisis without smashing the values of homes already owned by Australians,” he said. “Keep this in mind: the last time this policy was on the table was 30 years ago. This weekend might be the last chance you get to vote on it for another 30 years.

“You make up your own mind. For me, when it comes to tackling housing affordability head-on, I’m giving this one to Labor.”

Originally published as ‘I’m giving this one to Labor’: Waleed Aly tackles Australia’s housing affordability crisis