First Home Owners Grant called to be axed by Vic inquiry into rental and housing crisis

A rental crisis inquiry has called for Victoria’s $10,000 First Home Owners Grant to be axed and the program’s funds used to fight homelessness. And it’s not their only demand to the government.

The inquiry into the rental and housing affordability crisis has come up with 34 recommendations for the Victorian government.

A major review into Victoria’s rental market has called on the government to axe the First Home Owners Grant and use the funds to fight homelessness.

The Legislative Council’s Legal and Social Issues Committee inquiry’s 34 recommendations to the Allan government also outlined the need for the state to build 60,000 new social housing homes by 2034 and to set accountable targets to buy and lease out more rentals.

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After weeks of hearings including horror stories from tenants living in cars for months on end, the final report slammed Victoria for lagging behind the rest of the country in meeting the housing needs of the state’s most vulnerable.

The Committee received almost 1000 submissions from renters, landlords, not-for-profit organisations and other stakeholders.

As part of the inquiry the Committee advocated for funds to be redirected into the Private Rental Assistance Program (PRAP) as a way to bolster investment into social and affordable housing.

“Although the Housing Statement makes several commitments to build new social housing it does not include an overall target,” the Committee said.

Council to Homeless Persons chief executive Deborah Di Natale welcomed the recommendations to help the state’s most vulnerable.

Council to Homeless Persons chief executive Deborah Di Natale said they welcomed the adoption of their social housing target by the inquiry into Victoria’s rental and housing affordability crisis.

“The PRAP is vital to getting people out of the cycle of homelessness and into long-term housing as well as helping people in financial distress to maintain their tenancies,” Ms Di Natale said.

“Getting more people into stable and secure private rentals, and helping them stay there, is key to ending the homelessness crisis.

“We have to build our way out with 6,000 new public and community homes each year while reforming the broken private rental market.”

Real Estate Institute of Victoria chief executive Quentin Kilian said he would prefer to see incentives for first-time buyers remain, but in the form of “forgone revenue” such as an increase to the stamp duty concession cap.

“You need to give first home buyers some help,” Mr Kilian said.

“The reality of first home buyers is you’ve already got somebody who is stretched to the limit with the cost of living.”

REIV chief executive Quentin Kilian said first home buyers still needed help.

Another suggestion by the Committee was for the state government to establish “concrete targets” and “accountability measures” for their commitments in The Big Housing Build and Housing Statement to “head-leasing” and “spot-purchasing”.

This involves renting and purchasing homes for those waitlisted for social housing.

Build-to-rent development has also been faulted by the Committee as it “does not address the immediate needs of middle and lower income earners under housing cost stress” despite increasing supply, the report said.

The inquiry called for the federal, state and territory governments to come together in the national cabinet to discuss a renewed long-term National Housing Policy.

The government has six months to respond to the recommendations.

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Originally published as First Home Owners Grant called to be axed by Vic inquiry into rental and housing crisis