Greater public investment in public housing would give the ACT government the chance to "supercharge" innovative development proposals that deliver properties the capital needs, the ACT Greens believe.
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The party has also revealed where it believes public housing properties could be added to the government's stock over 10 years if its $5.9 billion public housing plan was adopted.
Housing Services Minister Rebecca Vassarotti, who is the Greens' housing spokeswoman, said the policy would allow the government to support innovative housing projects, including adaptive reuse of existing buildings, and offer developers some certainty.
"We're really trying to create an environment that really prioritises innovation, and it really gives the opportunity for the private market to step up and say, 'We want to be part of this'," she said.
Guaranteed government investment in projects, through commitments to ultimately purchase properties for public housing, could encourage developers to innovate, including on projects to convert ageing commercial buildings into homes, the party believes.
The Greens on April 4 unveiled an election proposal to build or buy 10,000 new public housing dwellings over the coming decade, saying it would "fundamentally reshape Canberra's housing market".
The policy - which included establishing a government-owned housing developer, a prefabrication hub and a pilot program to allow homeowners to sell their properties to the government - was independently costed by Purdon, an ACT consulting firm.
Ms Vassarotti said she had watched, as a government minister, the public housing waiting list grow for 3.5 years while being told the government did not have the levers to pull in response. It's a position she disagrees with.
"How can we actually change the story? It does require intervention, it does require resources, but it is eminently affordable," she said.
"And this is about political will and choice."
The 10,000 new homes promised under the Greens' plan would be split across Canberra's eight districts, with each district to get the same percentage uplift meaning the current distribution of public housing would not be skewed. Here's how they plan to spread them out.
The district distribution adds to 10,001 new dwellings due to rounding.
Ms Vassarotti said the Greens' policy had not set out to intervene in the projected growth of Canberra's districts. The population on the city's northside is expected to grow significantly faster than the southside in the coming decades.
"Certainly we have looked at it in relation to where we know that there will be housing growth. We have sort of tried to reflect that we know that there will still be greenfield development," she said.
"But we also have really looked at the need to densify, and particularly for people in public housing we think it is important that people are located near to where they work, where they go to school, transport routes and things like that."
Ms Vassarotti said public housing also needed to deliver properties that met the needs of tenants at different stages of their lives.
"I think our community as a whole is changing and starting to think about housing differently. And I think our needs are changing as well ... I think that there is a recognition that the first or second home that you buy may not be the home you live in forever," she said.
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Ms Vassarotti also challenged Labor and the Liberals, which both criticised the Greens' proposal, to come up with their own plan to meet housing needs.
"We can say that it's all too hard or we can sit down and work out a way with the tools that we have in place about how we can respond to this," she said.
Housing Minister and Labor housing spokeswoman Yvette Berry said when the Greens unveiled the policy that the party was making promises to vulnerable Canberrans they knew they could not possibly keep.
"The Greens political party have been part of the ACT government for almost a decade. They know better and they should be upfront with the community about the huge hurdles to implement this policy," Ms Berry said.
The Canberra Liberals said the policy was unachievable.
Ms Vassarotti said she believed the private housing market had failed to deliver rental accommodation to those who need it.
"Even if you're on an income of $80,000, you're still broke after you pay your rent. That suggests that the rental market is really failing," she said.
The Greens say their policy would clear the public housing waiting list within the next term of the Legislative Assembly, allowing public housing to become a landlord of choice for a broader range of Canberrans.
Jasper Lindell
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
