This week there has been much debate within State and Federal parliament regarding affordable and social housing
This week there has been much debate within State and Federal parliament regarding affordable and social housing and how to address the crisis now, rather than at some time in the distant future as we see vacancy rates remain unsustainably tight and more stories of people left without a home or security, with not enough roofs to go around.
One of the solutions being put forward is that in addition to building new homes with a longer lead time, various government and government supported entities look to purchase existing homes to meet immediate need. On face value – great idea, right? After all, realistically if you had titled land ready to build on today, you’re still likely 8-9 months away from a finished residence ready to move in, and people need homes NOW. A house bought today on the other hand – why that could be ready to go in as little as 30 days! Not only is it quicker, but given the (still) rising cost of construction, an established home is more often than not likely to come at a much lower upfront cost.
The problem here of course is that you aren’t creating new supply. You are just moving the problem further upstream by taking a property that would have been on the private rental market (or served as someone’s owner occupied home) and offering it to a more specific tenant group. Now there absolutely is benefit in providing options for those that arguably have the least options – those either priced out of the market or with other challenges that make them less attractive as tenants in a very competitive market. BUT, with no net increase in housing, someone, somewhere will still miss out and the same number of people end up housed, with the main difference being the taxpayer foots the bill.
So what else can be done? If its about getting the most people safely housed the quickest, then one option is to “right-size” public housing with regular re-assessments of need. A 4 bedroom home allocated a decade ago might now be more than required for that resident, and conversely there may be 1 bedders packed to the rafters that could be swapped in.
There will also be a need to redefine expectations on homes the way it has for land as lot sizes have shrunk – get used to smaller, and smarter to deliver more, quicker (and hopefully, more cost-effectively).