Page 2831 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 29 June 2010
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that there are two public policy objectives here—there is revenue and there is urban densification—both parts of these need to be considered, and it does not appear at this stage that the government is doing that.
I will move now to affordable housing. I note with pleasure the increased target from 15 to 20 per cent of affordable housing now required in new greenfield suburbs. This is commendable. But I also need to note that for many people $320,000 is completely unaffordable. It is completely unaffordable for many renters. (Second speaking period taken.) For the money, these houses tend to be on very small blocks and to be very small houses.
Another issue around affordability, which at this stage the government seems to have just not got, is that housing needs to be affordable not just at the time of purchase; it needs to be affordable to run, it needs to be affordable to live in. This means we need to make sure that houses are energy efficient, which will reduce the heating and cooling bills and reduce the energy impact. We need to ensure that residents have good access to reliable and frequent public transport, which reduces the cost of fuel and car maintenance. In the TAMS portfolio we talked about that at some greater length. In the issue of energy efficiency, the Greens are calling for the government to adopt seven star energy efficiency ratings in Molonglo. We believe this would be a very positive step forward. The cost of it is minimal, the capital cost is minimal and the savings continue on into the future.
I note also the discussion in the estimates hearings about the growing number of homeless people in the ACT and the need for us to address the gap in delivery and in need. Another issue relating to housing affordability is the number of people who fall into the low income category but who are not eligible for public housing. These people often end up renting privately for years or decades, in houses which have slightly cheaper rates but tend to have very high running costs as they are uninsulated, zero energy rated and have not been renovated for decades, if ever. For these people purchasing their own home is completely unattainable, so they get stuck in the private rental market, with high living expenses, in a totally inescapable cycle.
I understand that the land rent scheme is designed to address the needs of these people, and I do believe that its pick-up is growing. I look forward to hearing more about its uptake in the future. I do believe there is far more to be done in this area, as well as in the community housing sector.
Community housing has done quite well out of the federal government’s stimulus packaging funding, but I hope that the level of investment in community housing in the ACT will continue in years to come, even without a stimulus package. My colleague Ms Bresnan will address some of the issues related to public housing when we get to that output.
Just briefly, I will mention some issues with the Land Development Agency. On the solar hot water rebates, we are very pleased that the LDA considers that solar hot water is a good initiative for housing in new suburbs. It has been running a solar hot water rebate scheme in Bonner, which makes the purchase of these systems cost free. We are pleased that the LDA understands the long-term savings involved in installing
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