Page 834 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 22 March 2017

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(g) the importance of ensuring the Canberra community and, specifically, key stakeholders and subject matter experts are appropriately engaged around responding to complex policy issues such as increasing access to affordable housing options, a process initiated by the Minister for Housing in 2016;

(2) notes:

(a) the work to date on addressing housing affordability through the Affordable Housing Action Plan over a number of years, including mandating a 20% target for affordable land release; providing development opportunities for new public and community housing; and releasing 17 000 dwelling sites through the accelerated land release program since 2007; and

(b) that the Minister for Housing and Suburban Development will hold a housing and homelessness summit later this year that will bring together a broad range of industry, community, consumer and expert stakeholders to consider actions for inclusion in a housing strategy; and

(3) calls on the ACT Government to:

(a) undertake research to measure the number of long-term vacant properties in the ACT, considering the complexities in obtaining accurate data;

(b) consider the effectiveness of a vacancy tax, land tax arrangements or similar measures in the context of the research and ongoing consultation with key stakeholders and subject matter experts as part of the work contributing to the development of the Housing Strategy, and in the context of future budget decisions; and

A lot of work is already underway on housing affordability more broadly, but it is also timely to reflect on some of the success of the government’s policies to improve housing affordability to date. Through previous phases of the affordable housing action plan, which we first launched in 2007, the ACT government has demonstrated our long-term commitment and achievements in increasing the supply of affordable housing for all Canberra residents.

This commitment has been instrumental in maintaining among the best housing affordability in Australia against average incomes. The latest figures from the Real Estate Institute of Australia show that average mortgage payments in the ACT account for 19.9 per cent of income and average rent payments account for 16.8 per cent, both the lowest percentages in the country.

One of the priorities of the ACT government’s affordable housing strategy has been to secure an increase in the supply of land and expand the housing options available. The work we have undertaken to this point has provided the most efficient and cost-effective means of addressing housing affordability. The ACT government has released in excess of 37,000 dwelling sites over the past 10 years, which has provided

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