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The Housing Industry Association (HIA) has released a list of pressing initiatives it hopes all political parties will commit to in the lead-up to the federal election.
This year, the organisation has focused its efforts on addressing the barriers to home ownership in Australia, which has lately been causing increased concern among organisations like HIA and the Real Estate Institute of Australia.
In introducing the imperatives, HIA managing director Graham Wolfe explained the organisation was looking to elucidate “the issues and policies that HIA believes are vital to advancing the supply of housing for all Australians”.
“HIA research suggests 75 per cent of Australians believe everyday Australians should be able to own their own home. The vast majority of those who don’t currently own their own home aspire to do so, but only 42 per cent of these households feel they will ever achieve this,” Mr Wolfe said.
“HIA remains dedicated to changing this statistic, and we believe that it is an objective that should be adopted by all political parties contesting the upcoming federal election”.
HIA has lately been using its platform to emphasise the importance of home ownership in building both a stable economy and a high-functioning social framework.
“We know that a person who owns a home has a sense of stability and security in their life and that translates to a more stable and productive society,” Mr Wolfe noted.
It’s the reason the organisation has been advocating to have a minister for housing elevated into cabinet, which it argues would give the issue of housing the prominence it deserves.
The nine imperatives HIA has outlined in the run-up to the Australian election are:
- Make housing supply a priority
- Unlock land supply to support new housing
- Support home ownership
- Increase access to rental housing
- Grow the supply of social and community housing
- Form a population strategy to build Australia’s future
- Maintain a stable industry workforce
- Maintain the rights of independent contractors
- Reduce the burden on new housing
Mr Wolfe signalled that HIA would be raising these issues with all political sides as the next election looms.
“In these times of ongoing uncertainty and turmoil, our mantra that home ownership matters remains a solid foundation for the association. Our resolve to uphold our core value of home ownership for all Australians is a message all sides of politics will be hearing from HIA in 2022,” he said.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Juliet Helmke
Based in Sydney, Juliet Helmke has a broad range of reporting and editorial experience across the areas of business, technology, entertainment and the arts. She was formerly Senior Editor at The New York Observer.
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