Get a Gravatar from gravatar.com

United Future
Since: Aug 2007
Posts: 314

Feed for this Topic

BLOG: Election Issues

If there was one item I would like to see on the election agenda next year it would be "Affordable Housing". Can you imagine the fantastic ideas that would emerge if everyone was competing to out-do each other with innovative ways to increase home ownership rates?

Personally I don't think there is a one-size-fits-all solution. Kevin Rudd has promised young Australians tax savings on home ownership accounts and that is a noble idea. But what about low-income families, with limited opportunities to save in a way that would see them have a realistic chance of putting together a deposit on a house where they could then afford to service the mortgage... how would that help them?

The Salvation Army Social Policy and Parliamentary Unit have put some real thinking into this issue and I encourage you to visit their web site: http:www.salvationarmy.org.nz/sppu_reports and see what you think of the ideas they suggest.

Feel free to comment on any ideas you may have on this essential policy. Read the full text of this blog post.

Get a Gravatar from gravatar.com

Quentin Todd
Since: Nov 2007
Posts: 68

Send email

Judy,

I have requested the Social Policy papers on housing from Salvation Army. Once I have read these I will comment.

However, I will say that as a single man, 47, on invlaids benefit and working 15 hours a week for a non-profit charitable trust, I am squeezed out of the mortagage market, to buy a house is out of my capacity - even to be able to get a piece of dirt which costs a fortune alone. So I would be keen to see lower income single people get their own place too- not just families.

Please login to post a reply. Go to Login page »