Housing affordability will be the single most important issue Australians will have to grapple with in 2017. Increasing numbers of Australians living on the streets, in their cars and couch surfing is only the tip of an iceberg that is having a significant impact on an increasing number of Australians. The current malaise can be directly attributed to the subcontracting of the public housing sector by governments to both the non-profit and for profit private sector.
The dismantling of a viable public housing sector by governments of all political hues, the support given to the privatised “community” and “social” housing sector by organisations that have traditionally agitated for a well-resourced and expanding public housing sector, has implications for most Australians.
The privatisation and dismantling of the public housing sector removes what little competition exists in the marketplace to keep rents and housing prices at reasonable levels.
A strong, well-financed public housing sector that caters for people on low incomes, not just those in very desperate circumstances, puts downward pressure on rents (especially at the lower end of the market) and helps to stabilise and drop prices for entry level housing. A strong public housing sector, although bad news for property investors who use investor friendly negative gearing legislation to maximise their profits at the public expense, is good news for Australians on social security benefits and wage earners who have been priced out of the property market. I encourage you to keep an eye on the Defend And Extend Public Housing Australia Facebook page and JOIN US in a campaign that will put housing affordability at the forefront of Australians’ thinking in 2017.
Housing affordability is an issue that effects most Australians.