Michele Adair: Government ignores holy grail of affordable rentals

Sadly, it's for all the wrong reasons. Bushfires, floods and people fleeing the city in the wake of COVID-19 have created a housing crisis.

Rental vacancy rates below 1 per cent are common. Rents are 20-30 per cent higher than last year, and higher still in some areas. Bidding wars among desperate tenants are the norm. People are even taking personal loans to pay rent months in advance to keep their family off the street. Many people are still living in tents after the natural disasters.

Making matters worse, the Federal Government plans to spend $4.6m on a campaign to encourage even more people to move to regional Australia. Other announcements make clear they consider it appropriate to help home buyers but not renters.

Over the past three years the face of homelessness has changed. Once naively imagined as the plight of old men with drug and alcohol problems, most people now understand the causes are more complex, and more simple. Nobody is immune to a job loss, serious illness or death. Homelessness among older single women has grown by 80 per cent in the past five years. Marriage breakdown and insufficient superannuation are among the leading causes.

Most young people are forced to leave out-of-home care at 18. This means they have no housing security or support. The opportunity for further education often suffers as they're forced into employment which has become increasingly casualised and insecure. Their peers in other households rarely leave home before their mid-to-late 20s. One of the main reasons women are unable to escape abusive relations is that they have nowhere to go.

Lockdowns to help contain COVID-19 also highlight the shortfall of affordable rental housing. Once again rough sleepers in NSW will have hotel rooms for the short-term and then be turned back onto the street when the lockdown is lifted.

For decades, governments have taken a short-term view and failed to invest in permanent solutions at scale. A recent example is the Together Home program which, although excellent, only provides 1050 homeless households with support for two years. There are about 37,000 homeless people in NSW and 53,000 households on the state's social housing waitlist.

In contrast the Victorian and Queensland governments have announced they'll build 12,000 and 6300 respectively over four years. Tasmania will build 1000. This reflects an understanding of the economic benefits of a targeted housing stimulus.

Equity Economics estimates that building 5000 Social Housing properties would create 16,200 jobs and generate an extra $5.2 billion in economic activity. It's the holy grail of public policy and also delivers inter-generational social benefits.

The Federal Government's preoccupation with home ownership is flawed and disingenuous. Home ownership is projected to decline to about 63 per cent of all households by 2040. Only 50 per cent of people currently aged 25-55 will own a home.

As the cost of housing continues to increase, often fuelled by government policy, the financial insecurity of retired renters in the future will be even more worse than that of the current cohort.

A contributing factor is that employment growth over the same period will largely be in low paid jobs - health care and social assistance, construction, education, retail, accommodation and food services, administration and the arts. Without significant reform, Australia's housing crisis will worsen and affect even more people.

Its estimated that 36,000 homes must be built nationally each year to meet the needs of low income renters. That's about 14 per cent of the total residential construction market. In the UK, Finland, France and Austria the share is 20-31 per cent.

A recent survey of leading economists and housing experts by the City Future Research Centre at UNSW concluded there is wide recognition that the economy drives the housing market but little to no recognition of how the housing system impacts the economy. This exacerbates inequality, compromises economic and financial stability, and negatively impacts productivity. These experts conclude that "the absence of a coherent housing strategy for Australia now constitutes a significant barrier to structural adjustment in the economy and to effective post pandemic recovery".

No one can get or keep a job, educate their children, manage their health or move on from abusive relationships without a safe, affordable home.

Governments, at all levels, must see a home as a fundamental human right, not solely as a wealth creation vehicle. Tenants and the rent they pay really matters. Failing to invest in affordable rental housing is damaging lives and destabilising the economy.