Just throwing more billions at housing won’t fix crisis

Reading about the ALP’s plans to fix the housing “crisis” makes me wonder what they will achieve given the plethora of housing “fixes” promised by various governments over many years that have come to nothing, (“Albanese’s $3.5bn homing device”, August 17, 2023).

Perhaps it is time to let some ideas loose to try and reduce housing costs. It might be a proposition to introduce a mechanism where people lease their land for a period of 50 years rather than buying it outright. Dwelling costs could be reduced by prefabrication rather than on-site building and dwellings could be expandable to cater for changing family needs over time.

This would negate many of the problems that arise when building “on site”, like weather, trade delays and so forth. The technology to do this exists now but those who regulate building standards and approvals need to be a bit more imaginative.

The recent carnage in the home building sector gives little comfort that 1.2 million homes can be built, regardless of political aspirations.

Whatever way you look at it, housing is too expensive for many people and costs need to come down. Governments splurging taxpayers’ funds in giveaways won’t do it.

David Bidstrup, Plympton Park, SA

The housing crisis is now front and centre at the ALP’s conference in Brisbane. It’s about time.

Instead of a pat on the back for the Prime Minister and state and territory leaders, they should be castigated for being too slow to act. This catastrophe required urgent forward planning years ago.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk scoffed at previous premier Campbell Newman’s plan to spend $800m on the demand for affordable housing and she laughed off the enormity of the problem. The state Labor government was not prepared for this ballooning crisis and it has not, until now, grasped the severity of the problem.

The gap between the haves and the have-nots is widening into a yawning chasm.

Lizzie Haydon, Runcorn, Qld

The housing emergency is twofold. The need for more housing in general is obvious with the immigration numbers the government imposes on Australia. The provision of public housing for disadvantaged renters is a separate issue, which will never be solved by the private sector.

This need must be fulfilled by the governments – read taxpayers. Good policy and clear goals are rightly demanded by the long-suffering public. Just throwing billions at the housing market won’t do.

C Catt, Kensington Park, NSW

Let’s be clear: property owners are not the cause of the housing crisis; government is the problem. For the government to try and control a free housing market by limiting rent increases and setting new rules to make eviction more difficult, it is removing the incentive for people to invest in property that will be available on the rental market.

Add to this the government’s continuing threat of capital gains tax and changing negative gearing rules, and investors must question if this is the area in which they want to put their money.

John George, Terrigal, NSW

The Labor Party doesn’t seem to understand that the supply of housing will not be solved by abusing landlords and denying them their fundamental rights.

Any landlord is experienced in renter abuse of their properties and contracts, while the renter is protected by state and federal governments and the legal system.

No wonder the bulk of landlords are withdrawing from the housing market. There are other places they can invest their funds. To increase supply, landlords will have to be incentivised, not victimised. Most will never return to this form of investment.

Malcolm Raward, Wynnum, Qld

In summary, Prime Minister Albanese’s housing policy is to make investing in rental housing unattractive for landlords, whilst throwing public money at the state governments to build replacement housing.

This sounds like a duplicate of the government’s energy policy under Chris Bowen. Destroy what we have before we build anything new.

I think we all know how this will end. Less affordable housing, just like less affordable energy.

Alex Haege, Tamarama, NSW