IPA’s chief executive officer Andrew Conway has urged the government to look outside the housing affordability crisis facing Sydney and Melbourne, and instead consider a holistic approach for the sake of Australia’s economy.
“This must include consideration of land supply problems in Sydney, giving time for APRA’s macroprudential levers to take effect, dealing with the over-reliance of state governments on stamp duty revenue, responsible lending by banks, responsible borrowing by consumers, a greater focus on financial literacy, getting over the ‘fear of missing out’, dealing with the impact of foreign investors, including property vacancies, and other factors,” Mr Conway said.
“There is also another impact which must be considered. Many small business owners are also individual consumers, some of whom have second mortgages on their homes to fund their business.
“This means that government housing policy can have flow-on impacts to the health of these small businesses, not just the potential for financial distress but also impacts on the mental and health wellbeing of small business owners.”
Mr Conway also urged the government to adopt a cautious approach when considering the use of superannuation to enter the housing market to ensure its true objective as a retirement income stream is not lost.
“We welcome the fact that the government seems to be looking at a range of solutions to address housing affordability and we will continue to be an active participant. There is no panacea to this problem so we must all work constructively to find a range of solutions.”
