Greens urge rent caps in pledge to consider housing future fund

The Greens say they’re open to negotiating with the Albanese government over its $10bn housing future fund, as the party becomes the last major stumbling block.

Greens housing spokesman Max Chandler-Mather says the party was withholding its support for the hosuing future fund legislation over concerns that the bill would fall short of its target of 30,000 social and affordable homes.

The Greens say they’re open to negotiating with the Albanese government over its $10 billion housing future fund, as the party becomes the last major stumbling block after Labor struck a deal with the Jacqui Lambie Network.

Greens housing spokesman Max Chandler-Mather said the party was withholding its support for the legislation over concerns that the bill would fall short of its target of 30,000 social and affordable homes, demanding the government freeze rent increases, outlaw no-grounds evictions and cap rent rises at 2 per cent every three years.

Mr Chandler-Mather said the party was willing to work with the government on its calls for action, but Labor needed to address his concerns that the scheme would only provide 1200 homes over five years to each state and territory, the equivalent of 9600 homes.

Tasmanian senators Tammy Tyrrell and Jacqui Lambie announced they would back the bill if the government guaranteed that all the states and territories would gain 1200 homes from the fund.

Mr Chandler-Mather said the Greens were “definitely still holding out, because Labor has literally admitted that their own plan will likely fall short by 20,000 homes of their own 30,000 target”.

“The promise was that each state and territory would get at least 1200 homes over five years if the Future Fund makes a good enough return which is ... 9600 homes over the next five years – not 30,000.”

It comes as the Greens prepare to introduce a private senators’ bill next week that would give the government the power to overrule Reserve Bank of Australia rate rises and pledge $1.6bn for states and territories to fund new housing in exchange for freezing rents.

Mr Chandler-Mather criticised Housing Minister Julie Collins for being unable to clarify during an ABC Radio interview how many homes the fund would have built if it had already been in place last year. Ms Collins called on the Greens and the Coalition to support the bill, saying that it would generate funding for housing “in perpetuity”.

“Everybody knows this bill needs to be passed, and what I would say to Liberal senators and to Green senators is that they need to listen to the community concern and the experts, and they need to pass this bill,” she said.

State and territory housing ministers convened in Canberra on Wednesday to develop reforms to assist renters, with ministers co-signing a letter to all senators urging them to support the government’s stalled Housing Australia Future Fund.

“The bottom line is that this is still a plan that gambles $10bn on the stock market, and doesn’t guarantee a single cent to be spent on housing,” Mr Chandler-Mather said. “And we’ll see the housing crisis get worse, and it does nothing for renters.”