The Housing Industry Association (HIA), the voice of Australia’s
residential building industry, has welcomed key recommendations made in the new
Senate report on housing affordability.
Observing that housing affordability is a challenge for many Australians,
HIA Chief Executive Industry Policy and Media, Graham Wolfe comments that the
Senate Economics Committee report makes a valuable contribution towards addressing
this national issue. The report emphasises the importance of keeping housing
affordability on the political agenda, including the need for a Housing
Minister.
Recognising the distortionary impact of state taxes such as stamp duty,
the committee suggests their eventual replacement with more broad based taxes,
such as a modified version of the current land tax.
According to Mr Wolfe, infrastructure costs and developer levies are
major contributors to the tax burden on new housing, leading to the industry
calling for newer and fairer ways to spread the burden across the community.
The HIA, therefore, welcomes the committee’s recommendation
that the Commonwealth should support innovative funding models for
infrastructure.
