THE ACT government should acknowledge the Canberrans suffering through a “housing crisis”, the Opposition says.

In response to increasing rents and housing prices across the capital, Liberal housing spokesperson Mark Parton will today (November 9) move a motion in the Legislative Assembly calling on the government to conduct an independent review on the impact that government policy is having on rents and house prices.

“It’s time that this government looks at the impact their policies are having on the rising cost of housing in the ACT,” Mr Parton said.

“We are clearly in the grip of a housing crisis of the ACT Labor-Greens government’s own making, and we cannot go on like this.”

Mr Parton said he was “shocked” to learn that almost 7500 people entered the ballot to buy 115 blocks in the Taylor land release, with less than 20 of those zoned for a single dwelling.

“The number of stand-alone houses on sale for less than a million dollars in the ACT is rapidly shrinking,” Mr Parton said.

“This is denying a whole generation of Canberrans the aspiration of ever owning their own home.

“The Labor-Greens government continually puts the blame elsewhere, while turning a blind eye to the controls and levers it has over land supply and land prices; not to mention the raft of rates, taxes and charges that impacts directly on high rental prices in the territory.”

It comes as Canberra remains the most expensive city in Australia to rent a property at $633 per week, according to new data from CoreLogic.