There’s a housing crisis in Australia. That is to say, houses have become so expensive, especially in the capital cities, that it’s very difficult for anyone wanting to buy their first house, even with the government incentives to help buyers come up with a deposit. It’s also extremely difficult for anyone wanting to rent a house. Rental properties have become as rare as the proverbial hen’s teeth and as a result more and more people including families, are homeless. They’re sleeping in their cars or they’ve set up makeshift camp sites. Quite a few of these homeless people actually have jobs. They just can’t find or afford a place to stay.
There are lots of reasons for the problem. Many people simply can’t afford to pay the rent, especially if they are on welfare. People are being forced to choose between paying the power bill, putting food on the table, or paying the rent/mortgage. Mortgages are through the roof – but so are electricity prices as this government continues to cling to its renewable energy farce. On top of that, the government is accepting too many immigrants. It’s all very well encouraging people to come to Australia, but they will also be competing for houses, increasing the strain on the market. And there’s not enough public housing. Promises are made but take too long to eventuate – and even then, it’s not enough.
This article from the ABC talks about the housing crisis. “Number of families on social housing waitlist continues to grow in Queensland, QCOSS says”
“We know there’s around 100,000 households that are eligible in Queensland for social housing and who are in need of social housing,” Ms McVeigh said.
Queensland housing minister Meaghan Scanlon said the government had built more than 4,000 new social homes and had more than 1,000 under construction. She said the government aimed to commence construction on 14,100 by 2027.”
Wow – 2027? With so many on the wait list? We should be doing much better than that and perhaps thinking of stop-gap possibilities like offering caravans. People shouldn’t be doing it so tough in an affluent country.
Since we are in the process of selling one house and buying another one, we’ve had a close and personal look at what’s happening with real estate in our local town. Prices are not as bad as they are in Brisbane (let alone Sydney and Melbourne) but $600-$800 thousand for a house would make my heart beat a little too fast if I were buying a first home.
And that’s not the end of it. When you buy a property you must also pay stamp duty. Let’s say the house costs $800k. You’ll pay another $21,850 stamp duty, plus $2,932 transfer fee, to the government. What do you get for your stamp duty? Nothing. It’s just another way for the government to rip you off. At least first home buyers in Qld don’t have to pay stamp duty. And the transfer fee? That’s where a clerk changes the name of the owner on the database.
Apart from that, before you can sell a house in Qld you have to have a certificate to prove the smoke alarms are compliant. That is, smoke alarms must be wired in all bedrooms (not battery operated) and if one alarm is triggered, they all go off. If the property has a swimming pool, the compulsory pool fence must be inspected by a licenced inspector who issues a certificate of compliance.
Selling a house isn’t cheap.
We’ve been visiting a lot of houses lately and we’ve noticed that a lot of properties for sale are empty, or have tenants. Investors are beating the door down in the rush to get out of rental property. And the main reason for that is the government has introduced legislation that has reduced the rights of landlords and given all advantages to tenants. For example, it’s no longer easy to evict a tenant, despite misbehaviour. This article gives a simple explanation of the process.
Last century, then-Treasurer Paul Keating ended negative gearing, where a landlord could offset the costs of a rental property against their taxes. That lasted for a couple of years until the government of the day (Labor, of course) noticed that the supply of rental accommodation had slowed to a trickle. Negative gearing was reinstated. I suspect that something similar will happen to the current legislation. There’s got to be something in it for owners for them to invest.
We’re over-taxed and over-governed. I’m looking forward to October, when Queensland’s incumbent Labor Government finally gets kicked out, and to next May (or thereabouts) when hopefully the incompetents in Canberra will be sent packing.
And here’s a picture of some lorikeets
