In a housing crisis, the supply of homes should not left up to private developers, who make bigger profits the more that house prices and rents go up.
For decades, both Labor and Liberal governments have pushed us into this housing crisis by funnelling billions of dollars into the pockets of property developers, investors and the banks.
All the while, they've slashed funding for public housing.
Housing is an essential. Just like healthcare and education, we shouldn’t just leave it to the private market.
That's why the Greens have a plan to ensure that people’s right to a good quality home is put ahead of developer profits.
We want to get government back in the business of building homes by establishing a public property developer.
This would see the Federal Government build 610,000 well-designed homes over the next ten years. These homes would be available for anyone to rent and buy at prices people can actually afford.
With rents capped at 25% of household income – and sale prices just over the cost of construction – the average savings would be $16,600 a year for a renter and $249,000 for a first home-buyer!
These would be homes that build community. That means close to where we work, where the kids go to school, and where our support networks are. The public developer would work with state governments and local councils to integrate new developments into public transport, parks, health and education infrastructure.
How can we afford it?
We can fund a public property developer and transform the lives of millions of people by winding back the billions in tax handouts given by the government to wealthy property investors, including negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount. This amounts to $38.9 billion in 2023-24 alone.
Join us in calling in the government to start directly building homes to rent and buy, just like they used to!