Building more new homes key to housing policy challenges

Building more new homes is the only solution to tackling the nation’s multiple housing policy challenges and Master Builders Australia welcomes the Treasurer’s recognition that this is the case in his speech today.

“As the Treasurer highlighted, the construction of more new homes is necessary to ensure home ownership is accessible not only for first home buyers but also for families and older Australians,” Denita Wawn, CEO of Master Builders Australia said.

“Building more new homes also ensures an adequate supply of rental stock which keeps rents affordable and assists first homebuyers to save for a deposit. Master Builders also backs measures to ensure there is an adequate investment in affordable and social housing,” she said.

“House prices are driven up by the embedded costs of inefficient regulation, ‘regulatory creep’ and urban infrastructure in ‘shovel ready’ land for housing developments, not the cost of construction,” Denita Wawn said.

“This is why Master Builders wants financial incentives for state and local governments to be included in the May Budget to encourage paring back structural impediments to building new housing that’s affordable,” she said.

“Master Builders welcomes the Treasurer’s recognition that changes to negative gearing arrangements would hurt renters and mum and dad investors, and impact housing markets outside Sydney and Melbourne which are not experiencing an affordability challenge and where investors help drive building activity,” Denita Wawn said.