Page 4440 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 30 October 2018
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the more equal cities, due to our lack of uber wealthy enclaves like Toorak or Vaucluse. This will help keep it that way.
This strategy is the result of public consultation stretching back well over a year, with a discussion paper developed and the housing and homelessness summit bringing together key stakeholders late last year. More than 125 organisations participated in 26 workshops, 166 people completed online surveys and 129 people attended six community drop-in sessions. Of the 110 recommendations in the resulting report, the strategy responds to 90 by recommending their adoption or further consideration.
This strategy will also provide funding for innovative ideas such as alternative finance and occupancy models. We need to think of different ways to get people into houses, and there are many promising schemes here in the ACT that will do just that. One idea is shared equity, where a buyer can obtain part equity in a home with an equity partner; for example, a financial institution or the government. This has the effect of reducing the up-front deposit required and the immediate mortgage repayments but provides a path to full ownership in the future. The equity partner recoups their cost later by selling their percentage to the owner or through the capital gain on the house.
The government will be providing support and potential funding for new ideas that can work in the ACT context. I am excited about our new housing strategy. Coupled with the new rental reforms announced by the Attorney-General last week, it is making Canberra better for the people of Canberra, not interstate property developers and speculative investors.
MR BARR (Kurrajong—Chief Minister, Treasurer, Minister for Social Inclusion and Equality, Minister for Tourism and Special Events and Minister for Trade, Industry and Investment) (11.07): I thank the Deputy Chief Minister for her policy work in relation to the development of the housing strategy. We are very pleased to have been able to deliver a series of nation-leading reforms in the affordable housing policy area, building on the work that has taken place in the territory over the last decade. This represents a significant further step to ensure that all Canberrans can achieve secure and affordable housing.
As our economy and city grow, all Canberrans must share in those benefits, and that is why we are, through this package, expanding our support for Canberrans who need it most. We have invested significantly in the renewal of public housing, and we will continue to both renew and expand the city’s public housing. This strategy continues what has been a significant renewal effort over the last few years. The strategy is focused on reducing housing stress and complements the wider work that we are undertaking to make our city’s housing market fairer.
We understand that buying a home is a challenge for many, particularly young people and those on low incomes, and that is why we have continued our approach to tax reform to make our tax system fairer. It was pleasing to see the confirmation yet again of the policy merits of that agenda from the Grattan Institute in their report yesterday. Through our tax reform plan we are cutting costs for home buyers, whilst providing a fairer and more stable revenue base from which to fund the essential services that Canberrans need.
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