 | "While it’s not quite shifting deck chairs on the Titanic, it’s awfully close to sewing cushions for the lifeboat." |
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NSW state budget takes two steps forward and one step back
By
Sarah Toohey
The NSW state budget takes two steps forward and one step back on housing affordability. Abolishing the first-home owners’ grant for existing properties is a positive move, because we know it simply helps to push up prices when supply is restricted. That $7,000 just goes straight into the pocket of the seller, not the home buyer. Sydney clearly needs more new homes built, but unless the community can reach a consensus about how and where new development can take place, increased grants for new homes might not have any effect, or worse, simply push up prices for new homes as well. It’s disappointing that there is no new money for affordable rental housing. This budget does little for the 180,000 renters in New South Wales struggling with high housing costs, and actually cuts the number of people who will be assisted in the private rental market. With some of the highest housing costs in the country, and more than 300,000 households in New South Wales under housing stress, the New South Wales budget falls well short of fixing this problem. While it’s not quite shifting deck chairs on the Titanic, it’s awfully close to sewing cushions for the lifeboat. Sarah Toohey is campaign manager of Australians for Affordable Housing. |
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