Mirvac CEO, Lloyd-Hurwitz, has called for a taskforce to make all levels of government, corporations and the community sector work together to tackle the housing affordability crisis. From The Australian:
“Crisis is a strong word, but when Sydney is the second-most unaffordable city in the world I think it’s probably a justified term,” Mirvac chief executive Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz told The Australian. “It’s something we need to address holistically”…
“Supply is the main issue. Lack of supply is the key driver of why we’ve had such strong price growth,” Ms Lloyd-Hurwitz said.
“We don’t build enough housing for people to come to Australia. There are a whole host of issues around planning, tax — a whole host of issues that need to be thought through.
“It would be very beneficial to have a taskforce of some sort where people can work together.”
How convenient that Ms Hurwitz sees supply as the primary driver of Australia’s housing woes, given Mirvac is a property developer that would benefit from any reforms that made it more lucrative to build housing.
What about demand-side drivers, Ms Hurwitz. You know, things like:
- Mass immigration;
- Turbo-charged investor participation; and
- Foreign demand?
Only in the myopic world of a property developer would they pin all of the blame for Australia’s housing affordability on supply.
Then there’s the issue of having yet another taskforce on housing affordability. Over the past 12 years, almost every government body, at every level of government, that has any function related to any aspect of housing policy, has conducted inquiries into housing affordability. With zero results.
Heck, the latest parliamentary inquiry into housing, released in December, recommended absolutely nothing!
The solutions to making housing more affordable for Australians are obvious and include such things as:
- Slashing immigration to sensible and sustainable levels;
- Tax reforms;
- Tighter rules and enforcement on foreign ownership;
- Land-use and planning reforms; and
- Reforming rental tenancy laws to give greater security of tenure.
The time for talk is over. Stop pretending to care and take concrete action on both the demand and supply sides.
