“In a ‘double-speak’ media release, it becomes clear that support for these entry level, off-the-plan purchases are really designed to support major developers and to drive people into apartments,” writes political columnist MICHAEL MOORE. 

THE Australian dream to bring up a family in a home with a yard is rapidly disappearing in Canberra. It is simply too bad for those who do not have huge financial support from the family or elsewhere. 

Rating the ACT government on access to housing is really challenging, but it certainly is not a pass grade. The recent introduction of further cuts to residential stamp duty for entry level, first-home buyers and those seeking to downsize barely address accessibility to housing.

Ironically, the government is going to introduce these cuts from April Fool’s Day. In a “double-speak” media release it becomes clear that support for these entry level, off-the-plan purchases are really designed to support major developers and to drive people into apartments. 

There will be no stamp duty applicable to a property of a maximum value of $600,000 when it is an off-the-plan purchase. This is up from the previous threshold of $500,000.

How many properties in Canberra that are not in apartment blocks can be purchased for less than $600,000? There is an ideological drive from the Greens and Labor to move people into apartments rather than have homes with a yard. 

According to the government, the savings on a purchase of $600,000 will be $15,720. Providing a carrot does help drive this agenda for some. However, the ability to influence those who are much better off is pretty limited.

Chief Minister Andrew Barr argued “on the supply side, it’s a signal to build more properties under $600,000”. 

He explained that although there is “product available” at this price “it’s not chasing existing housing stock – it’s requiring new housing to be built”. The winners under this purchase-off-the-plan scheme are the bigger builders and developers.

Too bad for those who wish to buy their first home as a detached dwelling! There are no free-standing houses being built in Canberra on a reasonable size block of land for less than $600,000. 

Too bad if you have a young family.

This is why the Master Builders ACT CEO Michael Hopkins suggested “to provide equity across the new residential market, stamp duty should be cut for all residential purchases, including vacant land for detached houses”. 

By constraining land release for detached housing the government has pushed the prices on residential land. He called for adequate supply of residential land, which, combined with an overall cut in residential stamp duty, would make home purchases more accessible.

Too bad if you’re caught in the rental squeeze in Canberra. As Hannah Gill, of the Real Estate Institute of the ACT said in February: “Average rents continue to climb both for housing and for apartments, in fact Canberra is the most expensive city to rent in Australia”. 

At the time, the data from Corelogic suggested “the median price for renting houses rose in the December quarter to $714 per week while the median cost of units climbed to $541.”

Too bad if you need to rely on public housing. As Jon Stanhope and Khalid Ahmed explained in last week’s “CityNews”, there are around a thousand less public houses available in Canberra over the last decade while the population increased by 63,000 people. 

They argued: “It is difficult to find an aspect that sheds a positive light on the ACT’s performance in the provision of public housing over time or compared to other jurisdictions”.

The Chief Minister has once again proffered his choice argument: “I think so much of the debate is skewed as if no-one ever wants to live in a town centre. 

“Obviously tens of thousands of people do, and it is a viable and quite legitimate choice for people to make. And this initiative does support that choice.”

Too bad, however, if you want to make the alternative choice of a detached home. There are other tens of thousands of people, Andrew Barr, who want to make this alternative choice. Where are the initiatives that support the choice of these people?

Michael Moore is a former member of the ACT Legislative Assembly and an independent minister for health. He has been a political columnist with “CityNews” since 2006. There’s more of Michael Moore at citynews.com.au