EXCLUSIVE
The woman tasked with solving Australia’s worsening housing crunch doesn’t just see it as her job, but something of a personal mission to make things right.
Minister for Housing and Homelessness Julie Collins has been in the chair for four months now, following the election of Anthony Albanese’s government.
Like the prime minister, she too has a personal experience of what it’s like to rely on social housing.
“I spent my early childhood in Broadacre Public Housing and for me, it really was important to have a safe and affordable place to call home,” Ms Collins told realestate.com.au in an exclusive sit-down.
“It’s not just about shelter, it’s not just about a house – it’s much more than that. It’s about being part of a community, being able to establish relationships, go to school, have parents who can go to work.”
When pressure is placed on school, work, and family life, it’s difficult for Australians to participate fully in society – something else she knows about too well.
Ms Collins left school in her mid-teens because the cost was too great. Those struggles of her childhood and adolescence inspired her political aspirations.
And it’s why she not just accepted one of the most challenging ministries in the new government, but enthusiastically volunteered for it.
For Julie Collins, her role as Housing and Homelessness Minister is personal. Picture: Getty
Raging fires on multiple fronts
For millions of Australians, access to an affordable home is a growing challenge, whether looking to buy or renting.
While property prices have cooled in recent months, falling 3.4% nationally from their peak, they remain a staggering 30% higher than before the Covid-19 pandemic.
Rents have surged by 10% in the past year – the biggest hike on record – as demand soars and supply dwindles, with price pressures being felt particularly hard in regional areas.
“I was Housing Minister briefly in the Rudd-Gillard years and I’ve noticed in the decade since, particularly in my electorate office, more people coming through the door who are in housing stress or at risk of homelessness,” Ms Collins said.
Double-income families who don’t normally need to access MP services for crisis scenarios, and who might’ve never imagined themselves needing housing support, are a growing cohort, she said.
“There’s no doubt the situation is very challenging, and it’s gotten worse over the past decade.”
A shortage of homes is forcing many Aussies into difficult positions. Picture: Getty
Rising interest rates, reduced borrowing capacity, and difficulties younger people have saving a home deposit mean more people are renting for longer.
And so, the cycle of struggle continues.
The most vulnerable in the community are doing it tough, and an underinvestment in social and public housing by states and territories over recent decades is being felt now.
Across the country, 163,000 households are on waitlists for public housing. On top of that, based on the latest available Census Data from 2016, 116,000 Australians are homeless.
The worsening rent crunch is seeing more people forced to sleep rough. Picture: Getty
Behind those numbers are confronting stories of families having to choose between food or rent, people sleeping rough, or living in cars, tents, and crowded and unsuitable accommodation.
“They’re real people and they’re people who are really struggling,” Ms Collins said, referring to her own experiences.
“Some of them have got elderly parents, many have young children, some are living with disabilities.
“It’s really heartbreaking that in a country as wealthy as ours, too many Australians don’t have a safe place to call home.
“We need to do better. The only way we’re going to fix it is working together.”
With such an enormous challenge facing her, it begs the question… where do you even start?
Short-term relief and long-term change
Mr Albanese went to the polls with what he described as the most ambitious and wide-reaching housing policy seen in generations.
The PM promised voters a mix of affordable housing investment and buyer support on offer, as well as permanent and long-term systemic reform.
It now falls to Ms Collins to lead the charge on getting those immediate programs running.
Julie Collins and Anthony Albanese promise ambitious and wide-reaching housing reform. Picture: AAP
“The plan is to try to get some of our election commitments up off the ground as quickly as we can – particularly those that get Australians into owning their own homes quickly,” she said.
The start date of the Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee, which allows first-timers outside the cities to buy with as little as a 5% deposit, was brought forward by three months.
“We’re working on the government equity scheme, Help To Buy, which we’ve got to legislate and [do] work with the financial institutions [to finalise]. We’re hoping to get that up and running in the first half of next year.”
That program will see the Commonwealth take a stake in an eligible buyer’s home of up to 40%, to make their deposit and repayments smaller and easier to manage.
“Then our Housing Australia Future Fund, [investing in] 30,000 social and affordable homes, we want that up as quickly as possible,” Ms Collins said.
“We’re working with states and territories, social housing providers, and the construction industry about when we can get those homes on the ground.”
Today Housing Ministers met for the first time in almost five years.
The challenges we face are significant but I’m proud the Albanese Government is once again ensuring there is national leadership.
I thank Ministers for meeting and look forward to continuing the discussion. pic.twitter.com/NzWFvJu5d2
— Julie Collins (@JulieCollinsMP) July 15, 2022
Although, that injection of public housing supply is a drop in the ocean and those dwellings will take years to become available.
To add to that measure, Ms Collins said the government will immediately unlock the balance of the $1 billion Housing Infrastructure Facility.
“About half of that is still sitting there. What we want to do is widen the remit of it, getting more houses built faster. It’s about leveraging private capital, including superannuation.
“But it’s also about leveraging some of the work the states and territories are doing. Between them, they’re building 15,500 social and affordable homes in the next couple of years.”
Ms Collins said she’s keen to explore how else the Federal Government can help authorities “scale up and do more”.
There’s a lack of affordable rentals due to high demand and low supply. Picture: Getty
To ensure meaningful and long-term change is achieved, the government is devising a new Housing and Homelessness Plan in consultation with the states and territories, local governments, the housing sector, community organisations, and stakeholders.
And an Affordability and Supply Council will be up and running by the end of the year.
“There’s an opportunity [have an] impact, to change a lot of lives,” Ms Collins said. “It’ll matter – not just in the short-term but for generations.
“We’re looking to do as much as we can, as quickly as we can.”
Helping forgotten renters
Over the past decade, billions of dollars in housing support offered by governments have gone almost exclusively to homebuyers.
That might’ve left struggling tenants feeling forgotten, Ms Collins conceded.
“Rental affordability is certainly an increasing problem,” she said.
“In my view, we had a Federal Government in the past that wasn’t stepping up to the plate. They were missing in [action]. We also had no national plan, no national strategy.”
That’s why Ms Collins convened a meeting with housing ministers from the states and territories in July, with a follow-up summit held in September.
She said the plight of renters was high on the agenda.
Finding an affordable place to rent is difficult for many Aussies. Picture: Getty
“The first housing ministers [meeting] we had in July, it’s the first time they’ve come together in almost five years. Rent was raised and there were discussions around the table.
“I think that’s why there’s a real willingness from the states and territories, no matter the political party, to work with the Commonwealth, with local governments, and with the sector.
“The states and territories [control] most of the levers when it comes to rents, and they know it, too. We’re looking at what more can they do.
“No tier of government is going to solve this alone. It’s going to take everybody on the same page working together.”
One area of reform not currently on the Federal Government’s agenda is stamp duty – a tax imposed on homebuyers by the states that can cost tens of thousands of dollars.
It makes buying a home difficult, not just for first-timers but also for older Aussies downsizing, which prevents larger family homes from entering the market more rapidly.
Ms Collins said removing that major barrier is “an issue for the states and territories”. They’re unlikely to move without financial support from the Commonwealth to supplement the enormous loss of revenue.
That’s “not [on the table] at the moment,” Ms Collins said.
Helping Aussies to buy a home will help ease pressure on rental markets.
Nor are wider contentious reforms that act as a disincentive to private investors, who underpin to the rental market.
Drastic changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax allowances aren’t on the agenda, she said.
“We obviously went to two elections with negative gearing as our policy and we didn’t win. We’ve won this election with a broad and ambitious housing policy. My focus is on implementing our election commitments.
“That’s what I’m in a hurry to do, that’s what I’m focusing on.”
There’s potential for support to get other initiatives off the ground though, such as the emerging build-to-rent sector.
Developers who build stock with the express intention of holding it and renting it out could provide tens and thousands of quality dwellings on long-term leases.
While experts say there’s potentially $100 billion worth of projects in the coming decade, restrictive taxes act as a barrier.
“We’re talking to superannuation funds particularly about Build to Rent about what sort of role, what levers government has available, to make it stack up for investors,” Ms Collins said.
“What is our role, how do we open up that private capital? We’re looking at that and what it looks like.”
Build-to-rent is an emerging sector that cold produce tens of thousands of dwellings. Picture: Liv Newstead.
The key to achieving lasting change is recognising that Australia’s housing sector has many moving parts, she said.
“Everybody plays a role. It’s an integrated housing sector in Australia – social and affordable housing, private rentals, private ownership… there are a lot of issues [affecting those].
“We need to all be heading in the same direction. We need a National Housing and Homelessness Plan, which is what we’re doing. We want to work with everybody to get an agreement.”
More homebuyers helps everyone
For those Australians struggling to afford a rental property, or merely unable to find one amid intense competition, help for people buying a home doesn’t sound useful.
But reductions in first-home buyer numbers over time has seen more people renting for longer, increasing demand, reducing supply, and pushing prices up.
Getting more Aussies into their own home sooner is a key part of the government’s housing strategy, Ms Collins said.
The government will work to legislate its election commitments while devising long-term housing strategies. Picture: Getty
The shared equity scheme, which will open next year to 10,000 eligible buyers, is based on similar models elsewhere.
“We know it’s worked in other jurisdictions, particularly Western Australia where it’s been running for 20 years, that it actually works incredibly well,” Ms Collins said.
“People who are in the scheme tend to exit out of it after seven to 10 years, they tend to refinance and go into their own homeownership on their own without government equity.
“They’re good at getting people who otherwise wouldn’t be in the housing market to a [position] to purchase a home.
“Lots of Australians can pay their rent on time and can therefore service a mortgage. It’s getting them over the barrier of having to save for years and years and years of saving a deposit.”
When asked if there’s scope to expand the number of places on offer, Ms Collins said the government will review the program’s success.
