Page 2797 - Week 09 - Thursday, 27 September 2007
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As mentioned above, in response to these problems and in recognition of the importance of housing affordability to the community’s economic and social wellbeing, the government introduced the affordable housing action plan on 12 April 2007. The release of the action plan was widely applauded as a bold strategy that traverses new ground. Some commentators also recognised that the action plan is in keeping with our social democratic roots, which place a high priority on the provision of affordable housing for low to moderate income households.
The government’s affordable housing action plan is a comprehensive and wide-reaching plan to address housing affordability in the ACT and help Canberrans at all points on the accommodation spectrum, from home buyers and private renters to those in public and community housing. Some of the key initiatives in the plan include increasing the supply of affordable land to the market; regular englobo land sales; over-the-counter sales of affordable housing blocks; streamlining land release and planning approval systems; providing new house and land packages priced between $200,000 and $300,000; a major expansion of community housing that will deliver an additional 480 affordable dwellings over five years; making more effective and targeted use of public housing; an initiative through institutional investors to increase the supply of private rental dwellings by 200 to 400 homes in the first instance; ensuring the supply of sufficient land to meet the increasing demand for accommodation; land rent and shared equity schemes, including for public and community housing tenants; and targeted stamp duty concessions.
This is an ambitious program but we are getting on with the job of implementing the plan. The government moved quickly to implement the action plan by establishing a high-level team headed by the former executive director of the Master Builders Association, Mr David Dawes, to drive the reforms and coordinate the initiatives across government.
The initiatives were backed up with substantial resources in the 2007-08 budget, which included $375,000 to the Chief Minister’s Department for two years to coordinate and implement the plan; $300,000 per annum to the ACT Planning and Land Authority for detailed planning for future land releases; $20,000 a year for a new annual award to recognise excellence in sustainability, design and construction; reduced stamp duty for first home buyers under the home buyer concession scheme at a cost of $1.5 million annually; deferral of stamp duties for eligible purchasers, at an approximate cost of $300,000 a year; the provision of $4.3 million to Housing ACT to construct approximately 17 two-bedroom units; and $80,000 a year to the Department of Justice and Community Safety for expanded tenant and advocacy services to increase support for rental tenants. Supported by these resources, departments and agencies, the Chief Minister’s Department has been actively implementing the plan’s recommendations.
A key element of the government’s strategy is to help more Canberrans achieve their goal of home ownership. Around two-thirds of Australian householders own their own homes, but this percentage has been declining in recent years. The government is attempting to reverse this trend in the ACT by helping to ease entry into home ownership. It is doing that by providing a diversity of housing products, increasing
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