BuIld & Buy 10,000 Public Homes

Canberra needs publicly-owned, affordable and high-quality homes. 

For decades, Labor and the Liberals have used tax breaks to rig the housing market into a way to build wealth rather than a way to provide a safe and secure place to live.

The two old parties have finally woken up to the crisis, but they're handballing the solution to the same developers that created the housing crisis in the first place.

The only way to fix the housing crisis is for the government to step in and make change. 

THE ACT GREENS WILL:

• Establish a publicly owned developer and builder which will build and buy 10,000 new public homes over the next ten years
• Create a prefabrication manufacturing hub for public housing
• Initiate a pilot project for homeowners to sell their homes to the government for use as public housing
• Create more accessible and secure homes for people with disabilities
• Fund Housing ACT to be a landlord of choice
• In-source and adequately fund repairs and maintenance for all public housing properties.

Read in Full | Build & Buy 10,000 Public Homes ›
Read in Full | Public Housing Plan Costing ›

Freeze Rent Increases

Renters deserve to be able to live in a home that is comfortable and affordable.

At the moment, the ACT ranks among the most expensive places to rent in the country. In Canberra, rent is so ridiculously high that even if you earn $80,000 a year, you’re broke.

This rental crisis is a result of policies by Labor and the Liberals that treat homes like a lucrative investment mechanism, not a human right.

THE ACT GREENS WILL:

• Legislate a two-year rent freeze, a two percent cap on rent increases afterwards, and ban all forms of rent bidding so that renters can actually afford to live in Canberra's market
• Establish an independent Rental Commissioner to deliver real protection for renters by making sure landlords and real estate agents follow rental rules and laws
• Create a portable bond transfer scheme so moving from one rental to another doesn't break the bank in the middle of a cost of living crisis
• Secure a permanent Rent Relief Fund to assist struggling renters when they need it most 
• Fund an accessibility grants program to make sure there is an avenue for renters to get accessibility improvements to their home when they need it

Read in Full | Fighting for Renters ›

A Better Deal for Renters

More Canberrans are renting, and renting for longer. People are growing old, raising families, and retiring in rented homes.

But too many renters are living in homes that are making them sick. They are too hot in summer and too cold in winter. People are being forced to live in unhealthy homes or waste energy and pay huge amounts just to keep their homes healthy and comfortable.

THE ACT GREENS WILL:

• Install solar panels on all suitable public homes by 2030
• Ensure all new public homes have solar panels from 2025
• Upgrade all public homes to be efficient and all-electric by 2030
• Introduce new minimum standards for rentals to make sure everyone can live in a home that's healthy and comfortable
• Improve protections for students and other renters on occupancy agreements
• Prioritise homes over profits by cracking down on short-term rentals and designing a vacancy tax

Read in Full | A Better Deal for Renters ›

Preventing Homelessness

The ACT Greens have an ambitious and achievable vision for Canberra’s future where homelessness is rare, brief and non-recurring.

But at the moment there are not enough public homes, meaning frontline services are stuck with the impossible task of supporting people to move out of emergency accommodation while there is a massive shortfall of affordable places to live.

The ACT Greens will get to work on fixing the housing crisis, combining our transformative plan to build 10,000 affordable public homes with an initiative to fund gaps in frontline services through a Homelessness Services Project Fund.

THE ACT GREENS WILL:

• Establish housing as a human right by law, meaning government has a legislated responsibility to end homelessness
• Co-design a youth homelessness strategy with young people to ensure a targeted approach to breaking the cycle of homelessness early
• Explore establishing a public retirement village to address the increasing unaffordability of retirement options for older Canberrans
• Create a ‘Homelessness Services Project Fund’ to identify new models of homelessness support that can more quickly address immediate needs
• Support the work of Aboriginal Community Controlled Housing Organisations to meet the housing expectations of First Nations people

Read in Full | Preventing Homelessness ›

Planning a Connected, Affordable City

The way we shape our city shapes our lives. With the right system in place we can deliver great quality homes, in well-connected suburbs, with easy access to services while looking after our local environment.

For too long, construction on the edges of our suburbs has pushed many native ecosystems into increasingly precarious situations. And for too long, Labor has imposed rules restricting homes from being built inside our current footprint.

They want you to believe that solving the housing crisis means concreting over all our green space and developing on the outskirts of Canberra. But building new suburbs this way is expensive, and not nearly as effective as building inside our current city footprint. 

Building more homes inside our current footprint will mean we can integrate the environment throughout our suburbs, making Canberrans moving into a new home immediately well connected, with access to parks, public transport, shops and schools as they move in.

THE ACT GREENS WILL:

• Set city limits to stop bulldozing environment on the edge of the city
• Encourage Canberra to grow in, not out, with improved zoning rules
• Deliver vastly more public and community housing
• Support more density around public transport, local shops and community facilities
• Leverage community knowledge for great local outcomes
• Use social planning to deliver spaces that improve wellbeing, including for people with a disability
• Establish a Government Landscape Architect

Read in Full | PLANNING A CONNECTED, AFFORDABLE CITY ›