Latest news with #BrendanCoates
Bloomberg
29-04-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Can Australia's Housing Crisis Be Fixed?
Never miss an episode. Follow The Bloomberg Australia Podcast today. Australian capital city house prices continue to rise, and hotly anticipated interest rate cuts later this year could add further fuel to the fire, leaving some buyers and renters struggling to keep roofs over their heads. This week on the podcast, host Chris Bourke talks to Brendan Coates, the Housing and Economic Security Program Director at the Grattan Institute, about what Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and opposition leader Peter Dutton are promising to do about the affordability crisis if elected on May 3.
Bloomberg
29-04-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Bloomberg Australia: The Housing Crisis Election
Australian capital city house prices continue to rise, and hotly anticipated interest rate cuts later this year could add further fuel to the fire, leaving some buyers and renters struggling to keep roofs over their heads. This week on the podcast, host Chris Bourke talks to Brendan Coates, the Housing and Economic Security Program Director at the Grattan Institute, about what Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and opposition leader Peter Dutton are promising to do about the affordability crisis if elected on May 3.
SBS Australia
26-04-2025
- Business
- SBS Australia
There's one major fix for the housing crisis — but both major parties are ignoring a key issue
Experts outline key steps for the two major party leaders to take to address the housing crisis. Source: SBS News Australia's housing crisis has been a key focus in pitches to voters during the federal election campaign, with a particular emphasis on first-home buyers. But whether you rent or buy, the Grattan Institute says the lack of housing affordability is exacerbated by one key issue: the lack of supply. Brendan Coates, program director of housing and economic security at Grattan Institute, said: "We've not built enough housing to meet the needs of our growing population." "That is largely because state land use planning regimes have made it too hard to build more homes in the established suburbs of our major cities," he told SBS News. Last year, Master Builders Australia said building the average house had blown out from nine months to 12.7 months — a 40 per cent increase — since 2010-11. In areas closer to the city, it said the slow pace of development applications and height and density restrictions placed on big developments were part of the "red tape" slowing down construction. While the biggest levers for boosting construction sit with state and territory governments, which oversee planning and building regulations, Coates argues the Commonwealth still plays a role in increasing housing supply. Experts have weighed in on how the major parties are addressing bottlenecks in the industry and increasing supply, as well as what more needs to be done. A quick recap of the main housing pitches to voters from the major parties: Will expand the First Home Guarantee scheme and the Help to Buy shared equity loan scheme, both of which will allow first-time home buyers to buy a home with a deposit of 5 per cent or less. However, the latter gives the government a 30 to 40 per cent stake in your home. Build 100,000 new affordable homes exclusively for first home buyers, with construction starting in 2026/27. Provide a $10,000 incentive for apprentices in housing construction — paid in instalments — in a bid to speed up the construction of homes. Aim to deliver 55,000 social and affordable homes over five years under the Housing Australia Future Fund — which will be scrapped by the Coalition. First home buyers will be able to access $50,000 of their superannuation for a deposit. They will also be able to claim tax deductions on interest payments against the first $650,000 of their mortgage in the first five years. A $5 billion fund to build infrastructure such as sewerage and water will be set up to support the construction of 500,000 new homes. Businesses that employ apprentices in areas with a skills shortage can receive a payment of $12,000 per year for the first two years. The Coalition believes cutting migration will alleviate pressure on the housing market, pledging to reduce net migration levels by 100,000 places. Dr Liam Davies, a lecturer in urban planning and sustainability at RMIT University, said both major parties are tackling supply through different approaches. He told SBS News the Liberal Party wants to ensure the right infrastructure is in place ahead of development, through its $5 billion fund. Alternatively, Labor would facilitate supply by actively intervening in the market, directly funding projects like 100,000 homes for first-time buyers. In August 2023, the National Cabinet agreed on a target of building 1.2 million "new, well-located homes" across the country by 2029. To achieve the target, 60,000 homes need to be built every quarter. In 2024, roughly 45,000 houses and units were built each quarter — a total of 181,789, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The Grattan Institute estimates the target is unlikely to be met, forecasting 900,000 homes will be built over the five years. Coates argues the Homes Accord target should be revised to incentivise states to build more. Currently, federal funding incentives for each home built are dependent on that jurisdiction reaching its individual target. "There's not really a real incentive for the states to act to get more housing built, because even if they do, they will struggle to meet that baseline of one million homes, let alone the 1.2 million," he said. "So we need to revise that target down, that baseline down, so that states start to qualify for the $15,000 [per home] if they do act." "There hasn't been a harder time to build more housing anytime in the last 20 years," Coates said, attributing this to a spike in construction costs, interest rates making financing projects more difficult, and shortages in skilled labour. He said the federal government could "speed the process up" by getting more skilled migrants into the country and financing new construction — acknowledging the latter is part of Labor's pitch. Denita Wawn, CEO of Master Builders Australia, estimates the industry needs roughly 200,000 more workers to meet demand. She has repeatedly called for the fast-tracking of tradie visas, warning the gap cannot be met domestically alone. "We know there's at least 20,000 skilled migrants in the country at the moment that are finding it difficult to get their skills recognised and undertake their gap training," she told SBS News. Labor has since announced it will fast-track the qualification of at least 6,000 tradies already in the industry through a $78 million program that will help recognise prior learning and identify gaps for further training, which will be offered for free. Wawn said Labor's pilot program is not enough to compete with priority pathways offered by other countries, urging both parties to clearly lay out their skilled migration strategies to voters ahead of 3 May. "Where both parties have let us down is [there's] really no policies on the issue around skilled migration," she said. Wawn did note that the Coalition were "ahead" of Labor when it came to apprentices, "given that they've made a commitment to employer incentives as well as employee incentives". She was referring to a two-year incentive pledged by the Coalition for businesses that hire apprentices in areas with a skills shortage, and its support for Labor's $10,000 apprenticeship program. Other bottlenecks the industry faces are planning delays for things like development applications, title approvals and occupancy certificates — all of which reduce the capacity to build more homes quickly, although responsibility for these sits with local and state governments. Wawn acknowledged Labor is the only party to mention working in collaboration with states and territories to address the issue of housing. However, she credits the Coalition with having a "deregulation focus". In March, Opposition Treasury spokesperson Angus Taylor committed to establishing a productivity taskforce to assess the cost of regulation and how to reduce red tape. Wawn concludes the parties are "neck-and-neck" at the moment, but argues the 1.2 million build target is achievable if these issues are addressed. From a planning perspective, Davies said homes need to be built near infrastructure and utilities — including parks, schools, hospitals — and conducive to people having socially engaged lives. You can achieve this by either developing areas near existing infrastructure, or by building infrastructure to allow easier access to greenfield sites, which are undeveloped plots of land typically on the outskirts of urban areas, he said. "If you want to live in an urban area, the Labor policy may suit your lifestyle slightly better," he said. "If you want to live in an outer suburban area, the Liberal Party policy may suit your lifestyle slightly better." He argues while both are crucial, the government needs to focus on diversifying the type of homes being built. He highlights there is a gap for family homes — three or four-bedroom apartments — in urban areas. Coates said first home buyers on lower incomes will be able to buy homes they might not otherwise have access to, through Labor's first home buyer guarantee and shared equity schemes. But high-income earners, who are more likely to be able to buy a home, will be the greatest beneficiaries of the Coalition's tax deduction on existing mortgages scheme. "Labor is more likely to boost the rate of home ownership. The Coalition will allow wealthier people to buy bigger homes than otherwise." Visit the to access articles, podcasts and videos from SBS News, NITV and our teams covering more than 60 languages.
The Guardian
09-02-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Retirees who rent ‘really struggling' financially, researchers say – and the problem is getting worse
Two in three retirees who rent privately owned homes live in poverty and the problem will get worse, a new report has found. Most older working Australians who rent do not have sufficient savings to keep paying rent in their retirement, according to the report from the Grattan Institute. More than half of households aged 65 and older who rent report a total net financial worth of less than $25,000, compared with just 6% of homeowner households of that age. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Grattan's Brendan Coates said Australia was failing too many retirees who rent. 'The report really identifies that while most retirees are doing pretty well – they're actually more financially comfortable than many working-age Australians – it's retirees who rent who are really struggling,' Coates said. 'And they're in a lot of strife.' There are more than 200,000 retired Australian households renting in the private market, of which 67% are living in poverty. Poverty rates among single men and single women are even higher, at 74% and 78% respectively. Between 1981 and 2021, home ownership rates among the poorest 40% of 45- to 54-year-olds fell from 68% to 54%. Coates said this number would continue to dive. 'This problem is going to get worse,' he said. 'Home ownership is falling, and it's falling fast. Today's older renters who are in work are tomorrow's renting retirees. 'We're going to see more people renting in future, and many renters are not on track to have enough savings through their super to cover the cost of rent.' Coates called on the government to lift commonwealth rent assistance, which supplements the age pension for less well-off retirees who rent. 'The problem now is that social housing is also a smaller share of the housing stock,' he said. He said Australia's income support system 'hasn't updated for this emerging reality, which is that more people are going to rent'. The government has lifted the maximum rate of rent assistance (now $211.20 for singles) by 27% – over and above inflation – in the past two budgets. But even after these increases, a single retiree who relies solely on income support can afford to rent only 4% of one-bedroom homes in Sydney, 13% in Brisbane, and 14% in Melbourne.
