Canberra Times Letters to the Editor: Housing history

To achieve practical solutions it often helps to look back into our past for remedies to our present problems. The original cause of this was very simple. From the 1950s to the 80s we did have affordable housing for there was ample affordable land.

We had a federal government and it was very conscious that Canberra was the national capital and should set an example.

Under the present government the situation is reversed. We have land auctions without sufficient land to meet demand and with keen bidding resulting in unaffordable prices.

There is a simple solution which is to go back to the past and make abundant land available. Sell it over the counter at independently valued prices and most importantly separate the price paid for the land from the total price of the land/house package.

The land could be sold over a long time span. The land could be bought when young and sat on for a long period then used as a deposit on the building of the house. There would be provisions that it would be a one-off sale and could not be resold for profit.

Using modern European building techniques we could build an attractive 120 square metre house for around $200,000. This in turn would mean a weekly repayment of around $300. This of course would rise over time by the Consumer Price Index.

Using the accepted definition of an affordable house which is one third of the average weekly single income, this would put housing in reach of the average person which in turn would release more already built public housing to the needy.

The question we must ask is, would this suit our present ACT government? The sad answer is no. They are so much in the red through light rail that they desperately need the high land prices and subsequent high rates. Would an alternate Liberal government be better? Probably not, but they could not possibly be worse.

Howard Carew, Isaacs

The Sunday Canberra Times (October 22) "Big tax breaks for developers" could read "Big tax breaks for buyers of new properties". Instead of giving the tax break to developers, the government could provide buyers with discounts on rates and taxes for the next 20 years. The government would get the full price up-front for the change of lease conditions and environmental infrastructure; developers would get the full amount from buyers, and buyers would receive twice their money back with long-term discounts.

Developers are encouraged to increase the capital expenditure on economically sound improvements that will save customers money and improve environmental outcomes. The economic benefits to the community come from lower costs for water, transport, waste disposal and energy arising from the increased investment in infrastructure. It is a win for the government, developers, buyers and the environment. The losers are those who provide debt to home buyers.

Kevin Cox, Ngunnawal

I refer to the Sunday Canberra Times article on (October 22, p1) by Daniel Burdon on the tax breaks for developers and must say it helps to have mates in high places. Those who voted for Mr Barr and his Labor government in last year's election must be kicking themselves by now, just think of all that money ($25million) being fed into the pockets of Canberra's property developers while Canberra citizens have had to endure high increases in all government charges plus electricity, gas, water and land rates which Mr Barr has told us is inevitable.

The Canberra community wish to thank you for that insight and hope that the next $25million goes to cleaning our suburbs of grass, rubbish etc and improving the appearance of our city overall.

Errol Good, Macgregor

The $25 million in tax breaks on lease variation charges Canberra's property developers have been gifted by Chief Minister Barr since 2014 represent a hit to the territory budget of that same $25 million which has had to be made up by, guess who? Ordinary ratepayers.

The big end of town – who can most afford it – gets the gifts, while the little end of town – who can least afford it – pays the price.

I always thought democratic government was about being by the people for the people, but in the ACT, Andrew Barr's view of government seems to be about being by the elite (MLAs) for the property developers.

Don Sephton, Greenway

While the ACT government's $30,000 per unit tax on higher density developments has adversely affected the economic viability of many small-scale developments, since 2014 the government has rebated $25 million in lease variation charges to some developers ("Big tax breaks for developers", CT, October 22).

Although the government has refused to identify which developers have been the biggest beneficiaries, they are likely to be the larger, high-rise development companies that cosy up to the CFMEU.

Bruce Taggart, Aranda

John Galvin (Letters, October 22, p18) obliquely argues that the alleged 97 per cent of the population who once believed that the Earth was flat is equivalent to the 97 per cent of scientists who, in peer-reviewed publications, agree that "global warming is occurring".

There are some big differences. The flat-Earth theory was unsupported by any real evidence, let alone proof, and had some real problems. For example, what kept ocean waters on this flat Earth? Why was the Earth's shadow on the moon round in shape during a lunar eclipse? However, 97 per cent of scientists have come to the agreed conclusion that human-induced global warming is proven by scientific evidence beyond all reasonable doubt.

Douglas Mackenzie, Deakin

The false equivalence in John Galvin's (Letters, October 22) comparison of the 97 per cent of published climate scientists (most of whom are likely to have knowledge of climate systems, an ability to comprehend complex mathematics, and resistance to propaganda masquerading as science far exceeding the majority of people reading these letters) who agree that the increase in average global temperatures over the last century is largely attributable to human-induced increases in atmospheric greenhouse gases, with an uneducated and highly superstitious population believing in a flat Earth is so absurd that I hope he either isn't serious or doesn't vote.

James Allan, Narrabundah

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