Originally published at The Conversation. The Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA) has unleashed the hounds on Labor’s proposed reforms to negative gearing. The REIA’s campaign, Negative Gearing Affects Everyone, follows the lead of the Property Council, which describes the Australian housing market as a “house of cards”, with the REIA stressing how “fragile” the […]
Entries Tagged as 'Affordability'
Might Labor’s negative gearing policy yet save the housing market?
May 26th, 2016 · 1 Comment · Affordability, Construction, Government, Housing, Housing supply
Tags:Tax
The Australian housing market is a house of cards
May 6th, 2016 · 2 Comments · Affordability, Government, Housing
When Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced that his government would change nothing about Australia’s tax settings on negative gearing and capital gains, one of the Sunday papers ran the headline ‘Safe as Houses‘. Hardly. The Australian housing market is a house of cards – and that’s the view of the property lobby itself, as depicted […]
Tags:Tax
High housing costs create worries for city tourism and hospitality
April 7th, 2016 · No Comments · Affordability, Transport
By Ryan van den Nouwelant and Laura Crommelin Watch any tourism or branding campaign for an Australian city, and chances are you’ll see plenty of appealing imagery of amenities in and around the CBD – be it restaurants, nightclubs, parks or galleries. It is a common mantra in urban planning that good “amenity” is valuable […]
Tags:Planning
The tax reform right under Turnbull’s nose
April 5th, 2016 · 2 Comments · Affordability, Government, Transport
Three days was all it took for ‘the most fundamental reform to the Federation in generations‘ – Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s proposal to allow each of the States to set its own income tax, at different rates, on top of the Federal income tax – to be consigned by State and Territory leaders to history […]
Tags:Tax
Where is housing “affordable” in Sydney?
March 24th, 2016 · 1 Comment · Affordability
By Ryan van den Nouwelant, Hal Pawson and Laurence Troy The affordability of housing in a particular neighbourhood is a tricky thing to reduce to a single metric. One option is to try and account for the complexity of dwelling composition and quality over space and time through data-intensive indices. But, more often, there is […]
Tags:Affordable housing
Would negative gearing reform push up rents?
March 3rd, 2016 · No Comments · Affordability, Government
Modeller to the property industry, BIS Shrapnel, reckons reforming negative gearing would increase rents by 4-10 per cent. Is that right? First, always keep in mind that when property interests ‘warn’ about rent increases, you should suspect an ulterior motive. Landlords and their representatives aren’t worried about or afraid of rent increases – they love […]
Tags:Tax
Tax reform for affordable housing: Labor’s negative gearing and capital gains tax proposals
February 18th, 2016 · No Comments · Affordability, Construction, Housing
By proposing to restrict negative gearing to new-built housing and reduce the tax discount for capital gains, Federal Labor has presented a real policy platform for more affordable housing. The high cost of housing in Australia – to buy, and to rent – is largely a product of our current tax settings, which favour highly-geared […]
Tags:Tax
Housing is overpriced because it is undertaxed
January 14th, 2016 · No Comments · Affordability, Housing
The Australia Institute is in the media this week with a proposal to tax capital gains on high-end owner-occupied housing. They’ve backed the call with modelling that shows the current exemption of owner-occupied housing (all owner-occupied housing, not just the high-end stuff) benefits high-income households the most: of the $46 billion in tax revenue foregone […]
Tags:Tax
Crtl+H the tax reform debate: find ‘GST’; replace with ‘land tax’
November 10th, 2015 · No Comments · Affordability, Government, Housing
Here’s a tip for Federal and State politicians, and the people who advise them. Take the current debate on tax reform. Hit Ctrl+H. Find ‘GST’, replace with ‘land tax’. Hit return. Now you’ve got a positive agenda for tax reform.
Tags:Tax
The informal lodging sector in NSW: a regulatory blind spot
September 14th, 2015 · No Comments · Affordability, Marginal rental
Originally published in Parity magazine (Council to Homeless Persons). Fifty-eight beds, in 19 makeshift rooms, in a three-bedroom house. Ten people lodging in a single bedroom. Beds installed on apartment balconies, in bathrooms and laundries and, in one case, a pantry. A shower installed in a hall. These are some of the housing arrangements uncovered […]
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