Post by ppyenews on Aug 14, 2007 7:13:32 GMT -5
Welcome to ‘Talkback Topic’ – I’m Phillip Pye.
To the average person living in Australia easily the most sought after possession must surely be a home of one’s own, somewhere to hang one’s hat, one’s own Castle. As interest rates rise and are tipped to rise again there must be many who see such a dream as far from ever becoming a reality. As interest rates rise, so too do home rental prices leaving a rather nice little bonus for the more unscrupulous Landlords, quite a few of whom own several properties. No Government in Australia really gives too much of a toss about it until such time as Election time comes around and then whoopee, next thing is there are all sorts of carrots being dangled.
Labor very recently unveiled a low-cost rentals scheme that it says will mean 50,000 low to middle-income families will get new housing and pay rent that is 20 per cent below the market rate. They have also announced they will provide $60,000 tax breaks for big investors who agree to build new rental accommodation and then charge tenants the low rental rate. The Federal Labor party plan to carry out this scheme in conjunction with State Governments who would provide an extra $2,000 a year to investors in the project. It is envisaged that the investors would have to agree to take tenants who can show that they have been paying more than 30 per cent of their household income on rent for the last year.
Welfare Groups around Australia have welcomed Labor's promise to boost the amount of cheap rental accommodation as they see first hand many low income earners paying more than 30 per cent of their household income on rent. Many Welfare Groups have been advocating for increases in public housing for quite some time but until now haven't had any traction with the State Governments so have had to look at the private rental market. The housing industry has welcomed moves by Labor to address the issue of home affordability and why wouldn’t it, business is business and it is only too ready to bare its commercial bone when it can get hold of Government coffers.
Labor says housing affordability is becoming more than just an economic issue, it says Census information shows that one in three households in Prime Minister John Howard's electorate of Bennelong, in Sydney, are now paying more than 30 per cent of their income on mortgage repayments. Well, so what. That is just another below the belt bit of political nonsense that both major parties are guilty of. The real question is – is the level of affordability planned by Labor going to see a reoccurrence of low cost housing estates that have in the past become not much more than slum areas?
I’m Phillip Pye.
To the average person living in Australia easily the most sought after possession must surely be a home of one’s own, somewhere to hang one’s hat, one’s own Castle. As interest rates rise and are tipped to rise again there must be many who see such a dream as far from ever becoming a reality. As interest rates rise, so too do home rental prices leaving a rather nice little bonus for the more unscrupulous Landlords, quite a few of whom own several properties. No Government in Australia really gives too much of a toss about it until such time as Election time comes around and then whoopee, next thing is there are all sorts of carrots being dangled.
Labor very recently unveiled a low-cost rentals scheme that it says will mean 50,000 low to middle-income families will get new housing and pay rent that is 20 per cent below the market rate. They have also announced they will provide $60,000 tax breaks for big investors who agree to build new rental accommodation and then charge tenants the low rental rate. The Federal Labor party plan to carry out this scheme in conjunction with State Governments who would provide an extra $2,000 a year to investors in the project. It is envisaged that the investors would have to agree to take tenants who can show that they have been paying more than 30 per cent of their household income on rent for the last year.
Welfare Groups around Australia have welcomed Labor's promise to boost the amount of cheap rental accommodation as they see first hand many low income earners paying more than 30 per cent of their household income on rent. Many Welfare Groups have been advocating for increases in public housing for quite some time but until now haven't had any traction with the State Governments so have had to look at the private rental market. The housing industry has welcomed moves by Labor to address the issue of home affordability and why wouldn’t it, business is business and it is only too ready to bare its commercial bone when it can get hold of Government coffers.
Labor says housing affordability is becoming more than just an economic issue, it says Census information shows that one in three households in Prime Minister John Howard's electorate of Bennelong, in Sydney, are now paying more than 30 per cent of their income on mortgage repayments. Well, so what. That is just another below the belt bit of political nonsense that both major parties are guilty of. The real question is – is the level of affordability planned by Labor going to see a reoccurrence of low cost housing estates that have in the past become not much more than slum areas?
I’m Phillip Pye.