Renovating housing policy
Renovating housing policy
Housing policy in Australia is overdue for a major renovation. Government tax and welfare policies, by favouring homeowners and property investors over people who rent, are increasing the divide between Australians who own housing and those who do not.
The divide is income-based and it is generational. While home ownership is stable or declining slightly in Australia, there are sharp falls in ownership rates among households with low incomes or aged under 45.
This report quantifies major government outlays on the private housing system to reveal the cumulative impact of tax and welfare policies on housing, economic productivity and inequality in our cities.
Through policies such as exemptions for the family home from land and capital gains taxes and the eligibility test for the aged pension, governments provide benefits to homeowners worth $36 billion a year, or $6,100 on average for each homeowner household.
See also critique: Leave Property Investors Alone
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