Grim future for key housing bills after hopes of Greens deal collapse

The Greens say Anthony Albanese’s “ego” is blocking action on a key issue, while Labor says the Greens’ latest offer is “unlawful”.

The Greens are blaming Anthony Albanese’s “ego” for a failure to strike a deal on his government’s signature housing bills.

The government was set to bring on a vote on its Help to Buy and Build to Rent bills on Monday.

They have been stalled in the Senate for months, with the Coalition vehemently opposed to them and the Greens saying they do not go far enough.

The government on Sunday knocked back the Greens’ latest offering, claiming it was potentially unlawful and financially unviable.

Greens senator Larissa Waters said the government had refused to engage on a deal “at every opportunity”.

The Greens say Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s ‘ego’ is blocking action on housing. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Davis Jones.

“We came back with what we thought was a really moderate offer which would still help about 60,000 people by just funding an additional 25,000 homes, and I’m incredulous that overnight we had the government say that they won’t even do that,” she told the ABC.

“I think renters and people who are trying to (buy) their own home will be astounded that it seems like the Prime Minister’s ego is getting in the way of people having the homes that they need.

“I can’t quite understand the psychology there.”

The Greens have made multiple proposals to get Help to Buy and Build to Rent through the Senate, including action on rent freezes and caps, an end to tax concessions for property developers, and a government-owned property developer that would build homes to sell at just above the cost of construction.

The Greens’ latest deal has been knocked back for being ‘unlawful and unworkable’. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

In their latest offer, the minor party wanted 25,000 shovel-ready homes immediately built that had not secured funding from the initial round of the Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF).

They also wanted the government to raise the number of rent-capped apartments in Built to Rent properties from 10 per cent to 30 per cent.

But Housing Minister Clare O’Neil dismissed the Greens’ latest proposal as “unlawful and unworkable”, saying it was “yet another political stunt”.

“One of the proposals put forward would have required me as minister to direct Housing Australia to fund homes that Housing Australia has looked at and decided not to fund, and that is against the law,” she told the ABC.

“That is against the Housing Australia Act, so this is just one of a whole range of serious problems with what was put forward.”

If passed, the Help to Buy Bill would allow first-home buyers to purchase a property under a shared equity scheme with the government.

Simply, the government would foot up to 40 per cent of the funds for a new home and 30 per cent for an existing home.

Meanwhile, Build to Rent aims to incentivise the construction of rent-only developments through tax benefits.

The Senate knocked back the legislation earlier this year, sending it to an inquiry for further scrutiny.

The bills are just two of dozens of items the government hopes to get through in the final sitting week of the year.