The Federal Government needs to appoint a “bulldog” to champion solving the housing crisis and bring together all three levels of government, according to a prominent real estate industry figure.
Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA) Board Member, and Chairman of Ray White Surfers Paradise Group, Andrew Bell, said few understood the housing crisis as thoroughly as the real estate industry did, with agents and property managers witnessing the impacts of the crisis daily.
He said the Federal Government’s policy to build 1.2 million new homes over the next five years was a great initiative, but was already off-track, with doubts that the states would meet their targets.
“There’s an understanding of how the world works, how the system works, how politics works and we’ve got to step outside of it for this housing crisis,” Mr Bell said.
“There’s no action on the ground, nothing of any significance, to put a dent in the issues we have.
“The reality is, no one is shaking the tree.
“There’s no one at government level who has really taken up the cause and said, ‘I’m going to drive this, I’m going to find where all the blockages are and I’m going to smash through every barrier, because we’ve got people in crisis’.”
Mr Bell said while all three levels of government should work together on the crisis, it was his view that the Federal Government needed to appoint someone to oversee the issue, to drive change and to ensure the big ideas were actioned at ground level.
“They need to appoint somebody, a bulldog, who says,’I’m going to pull this all together’,” he said.
Mr Bell said one thing local governments could do was identify land that could be put aside for build-to-rent projects.
He noted they could also change zoning where appropriate and look at amendments to building codes.
“They may have to allow smaller one-bedders and two-bedders,” Mr Bell said.
“We need to find ways to make the cost of building less and that’s by changing some of that coding, but it’s also by local government building reducing some of their infrastructure charges and so on.”
Mr Bell also suggested builder and developer incentives could help ease the crisis.
On a state level he said there needed to be incentives for people to build new homes.
“At the state government level there needs to be relief on land tax and stamp duty as an incentive to get people to build now, not in five or 10 years time,” Mr Bell said.
“At the Federal Government level, there’s a mighty lot they can do but, above all else, they’ve got to show leadership in this space.
“They’re good at making announcements, but this is about delivering and that’s what’s not happening.”
Last month the Federal Government announced new funding across the country to build more homes, with a new national housing agreement that started on July 1.
As part of the new five-year National Agreement on Social Housing and Homelessness, states and territories would share in $9.3 billion.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the funding would help to combat homelessness, provide crisis support and build and repair social housing.
The new agreement includes a doubling of Commonwealth funding for homelessness, which state and territory governments must match.
Mr Albanese said states and territories would also share in a further $1 billion outside of the agreement, directed towards crisis and transitional accommodation for women and children fleeing domestic violence, and youth, through Housing Australia.
“I know firsthand the life-changing power that a secure roof over your head provides,” he said.
“That’s why my government is committed to delivering more homes, more quickly, in more parts of Australia.”
Elite Agent has reached out to the Federal Government for further comment on whether they would consider appointing someone to specifically oversee the housing crisis.
