Parliamentary committee to probe housing affordability

The inquiry will examine the impact of tax and regulatory regimes on price, affordability and supply of housing in Australia, in the present and into the future.

It is now calling for submissions from interested individuals and organisations. Submissions and evidence will be accepted until 13 September.

Speaking of the need for the review, Mr Falinski echoed statements from the Reserve Bank and other organisations that regulatory settings are “directly responsible for the unresponsive nature of housing supply in Australia.”

“Arguments about the impact of increased subsidies and tax concessions on housing have continued for some time,” Mr Falinski said.

“There is ample evidence that points to the small effect such measures have on supply, indeed the research points to limitations on land and restrictive planning laws as the major causes of shortages in supply.”

Home ownership has been on a decline for the last 30 years, as shown by data from the Reserve Bank, Treasury and the Australian Bureau of Statistics – while OECD analysis recently found Australia had the fourth-fastest house price growth out of the world’s advanced economies over the last 20 years.

The OECD had put the country’s high ratio of housing prices to household incomes down to a high level of inelasticity in housing.

House price growth in Australian cities was also ranked among the world’s fastest, with Canberra coming in at 17th place internationally, for its annual growth rate of 15.7 per cent.

In the 2021 financial year, Australian house prices grew by 13.5 per cent, according to CoreLogic.

Mr Falinski sounded the alarm, commenting: “In my view, this represents an urgent call for action by governments of all levels to restore the Australian dream for this generation and the ones that follow.”

Public hearings for the inquiry will be held in due course.

[Related: Neobank removes LMI up to 85% LVR]