Fed: First homeowners should not always get grant: housing group

AAP General News (Australia)
04-23-2007
Fed: First homeowners should not always get grant: housing group

By Kate Corbett

CANBERRA, April 23 AAP - New homeowners should not automatically receive the first
homeowners' grant unless they need help to enter the housing market, a national body dedicated
to affordable housing says.

National Shelter, the peak housing body for low income tenants, wants the grant scaled
back so it is available only to low and moderate income households.

Releasing its plan to make the housing market fairer, National Shelter said the grant
was working against low income households by artificially pushing up house prices.

"The first homeowners' grant provides valued assistance to many younger households
struggling to get a foothold in the housing market," the paper says.

"However, because it is not means tested, it also subsidises many people who don't
need it, and many believe it has an overall inflationary effect on the housing market,
which ultimately makes it self-defeating."

The group says the grant should also be restricted to the properties at or below the
median price for the local government area.

About 1.2 million households are estimated to be under "housing stress", spending more
than 30 per cent of their income on housing costs.

Of those, 400,000 are in "extreme housing stress", spending more than 50 per cent of
their income on housing, while 100,000 people are homeless.

"The Howard government has run public housing down and failed to provide national leadership.

Our platform calls for reinvesting in public housing and developing a national affordable
housing agreement," chairman Adrian Pisarski said in a statement.

National Shelter says councils, and state and federal governments must work together
to prevent the situation worsening.

It wants a senior federal minister for housing to be appointed to coordinate a single
national policy.

It also wants at least three major reviews - one to create a national housing strategy,
another on the impact of the tax system on housing affordability and an urgent review
of indigenous housing.

"After the longest period of economic growth in Australia's history it is a national
shame that so many people struggle to afford a decent place to live," Mr Pisarski said.

"The greatest shame surrounds the national catastrophe of overcrowded housing and discrimination
in the market for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders."

Industry and union groups have welcomed the plan, with ACTU president Sharan Burrow
saying working families are under a lot of financial pressure meeting the high cost of
housing.

"We need a national plan for affordable housing that will create more balance in the
rental market, help address the deterioration in home ownership especially for young families,
and ensure workers can afford to live close to their jobs," Ms Burrow said in a statement.

AAP kc/mfh/ks/cdh

KEYWORD: HOUSING

2007 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.