The silence by the incumbent Liberal MP for North Sydney Trent Zimmerman following the Liberal’s announcement that there will be no changes to the current negative gearing arrangements shows how out of touch he is with the housing affordability issue in North Sydney.
A Shorten Government will make the following changes to negative gearing arrangements for property investors:
1) Current residential investment property investors who purchased their property prior to the 1st July 2017 will be able to retain their current negative gearing arrangements.
2) Investors can still claim negative gearing for residential investment properties after the 1st July 2017 if they purchase a newly constructed or about to be constructed property that has not previously had any occupants.
Labor Candidate for North Sydney, Peter Hayes, said “Labor’s plan for restricting negative gearing to newly constructed investment properties is the first serious policy in over three decades to address our housing affordability crisis in North Sydney.”
“It really is quite simple” Mr Hayes explained. “If we use the power of investors to help create more housing supply, we should reward them for the risk they take to help create new housing supply. Negative gearing is a good use of tax policy to achieve this outcome.”
The Liberal’s scare campaign that our policy will hurt mum and dad investors could not be further from the truth. “It’s simple. Mum and dad investors will still be able to buy newly constructed investment properties and benefit from the negative gearing arrangements under our policy.” Mr Hayes stated.
By removing the competition from property investors for existing homes, new home buyers, home buyers on lower incomes and even seniors wishing to downsize will find buying an existing home much easier.
Over the last two rolling 12 month periods, house prices in North Sydney have risen by 6.2% to a median home price of $1,786,000. Unit prices over the same period have risen by a staggering 17.5% to a median unit price of $805,000.
“At this current rate, if we do not do anything to make housing affordable in North Sydney even essential professions such as Teachers, Academics, Emergency Service Personnel will not have any chance of living close to their employment in the North Sydney area” explained Mr Hayes.
Labor is worried that the Australian Dream of home-ownership is slipping out of the reach of too many middle class and working class families.
- First home buyers make up just 1 out of 7 of all home purchases in Australia
- Ownership rates for young people aged 25-34 have spiralled downwards in recent years from 60% to 48%.
Mr Hayes finished by saying “This is our last chance to make a positive change to ensure owning your own home is a realistic achievement for residents of North Sydney.”
“Our policy on negative gearing strikes the right balance between recognising the role of investors to help create new housing supply whilst ensuring Australians can still afford to buy their own home.”
“If we don’t make these changes now, many residents in North Sydney will be faced with a life time of renting.”