Big reforms always provoke strongly competing claims. The current debate about housing affordability is no different.
Greens housing spokesman Max Chandler-Mather has taken aim at capital gains tax concessions.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
The Greens housing spokesperson Max Chandler-Mather used Monday night’s Q&A program to challenge the assertion that restrictive planning and zoning rules are curtailing housing supply and pushing up prices.
Chandler-Mather said “it’s just not true” that planning is the reason houses are so expensive.
He argued the capital gains tax discount, introduced in the late 1990s, which benefits property investors, has been a bigger problem for affordability.
The weight of evidence contradicts Chandler-Mather’s claim. A host of academic studies have concluded that planning and zoning rules do restrict housing supply which, in turn, puts upward pressure on prices and rents.
This view has been backed by numerous government agencies including the federal Productivity Commission and the NSW Productivity Commission.
NSW Housing Minister Rose Jackson, who also appeared on Monday’s Q&A and rolled her eyes while Chandler-Mather was speaking, pointed to examples of other cities, including Auckland in New Zealand, where relaxing zoning rules had increased housing supply and improved affordability for buyers and renters.
Do planning rules really affect house prices? The answer is clear
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26.03.2024
Big reforms always provoke strongly competing claims. The current debate about housing affordability is no different.
Greens housing spokesman Max Chandler-Mather has taken aim at capital gains tax concessions.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
The Greens housing spokesperson Max Chandler-Mather used Monday night’s Q&A program to challenge the........
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