WA is leading the way in the provision of affordable housing strategies, a new report reveals.
Undertaken by researchers from Curtin University, UNSW and The University of Sydney, Government-led innovations in affordable housing delivery examined state government-led innovation in affordable housing in an environment of limited funding.
Lead author associate professor Steven Rowley said addressing housing affordability, particularly for those on low and moderate incomes, was a difficult political issue for Australian politicians.
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READ NOW“In the absence of a national affordable housing supply strategy, state and territory governments have developed their own approaches to delivering affordable housing.”
“While all states and territories have adopted public housing asset transfers to a greater or lesser extent and delivered housing through the cancelled National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS), some individual states have adopted innovative ways of delivering affordable housing. For example, WA and SA offer government-backed low-deposit home loans and shared equity products to eligible households, while ACT has a land rent scheme, reducing the cost of purchasing.”
Affordable housing included more than the provision of public housing and WA had implemented more programs and strategies to help lower income households find affordable housing than any other state.
Programs included the WA Affordable Housing Strategy, which brought together a collection of existing affordable housing initiatives, such as the Keystart home loan program, and expanded an existing program of collaboration with the private sector opening up opportunities for joint ventures and leveraging affordable housing opportunities.
The Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute published the report. It is available for download at http://www.|ahuri.edu.au/research/final-reports/289. n