The 2007 election is now in it’s final weeks and quite traditionally as voters start to listen the campaign launches begin. Quite correctly housing affordability is one of the big issues to be addressed by both parties and something which has been the subject of much debate and commentary for some time.

Housing affordability is quite a tricky topic, ask 30 people their solution to the problem and more than likely you would be presented with 30 differing responses. And none of them are probably all that wrong with everyone having their own set of financial circumstances and experiences along with each geographical region having it’s own circumstances including differing rates of demand, differing demographics and differing council and state government laws, fees and charges.

Although, that’s not to say that there isn’t a responsibility at a federal level and that’s where most people look for the provision of a solution. Also, interest rates are a topic of discussion particularly when they are raised during the middle of an election campaign and have an obvious effect on home buyers, to discuss that in fairness you then enter a larger discussion of the economy - consumer demand, jobs growth, wages, asset values, inflation - further reading here: The RBA and Interest Rates and even more at the RBA itself: monetary policy. Now if you have read all that and come back you are probably ready for a nap! So let’s get back to the election policies on housing affordability before we all nod off!

The interesting time saving feature of this election seems to be the policy duplication, so, by presenting one set of party policy you’ve probably got an idea of the direction of things.

The Liberal Party was the first of the major parties to launch their campaign this week which included:
Tax Free Home Savings Accounts for Children
Available to all Australians under 18 years of age. Parents, grandparents and others will be able to contribute up to a total of $1,000 between them each year to an account. The contributions will be tax deductible. Savings in the account will be available to purchase a first home anytime after the account holder turns 18 years of age.

Tax Free Home Savings Accounts for Adults
Available to Australians aged from 18 to 39 years. Up to a maximum of $10,000 a year can be contributed to the account. Interest and earnings on the account will be tax free and the account holder will be eligible to claim a tax deduction of up to $1,000 for their contributions. Child accounts will become adult accounts when the account holder turns 18 years of age.

Capital gains exemption to individuals who share equity in a home occupied by a family member (and which is the family member’s first home).

Land Supply to be increased by releasing Commonwealth owned land.

Financial Literacy continuing support for the Financial Literacy Foundation headed by Paul Clitheroe and continuation of the Understanding Money campaign to give Australians the opportunity to increase their financial knowledge and better manage their money.

Along with these measures they also state they will provide monetary assistance to state governments for community facilities that would have been funded by land charges along with monetary assistance for streamlining local government land release and dwelling approval processes. Also, importantly, getting a mention was consumer protection and responsible lending practices and the need for national legislation.

That’s a brief overview and they do provide, particularly in comparison to the other parties, extensive detail of their proposal including real world examples which is available in PDF form at Savings for the Future [PDF] and there was also a number of announcements of education and childcare which are also relevant to many and all their policy detail can be viewed at Liberal policies.

Liberal/National Coalition - Housing Affordability: Savings for the Future [PDF]
Labor Party has their policy online at First Home Saver Account [PDF]
Family First has a statement here: Affordable Housing [PDF]
Democrats - Housing [PDF]
Greens - Housing [PDF]

Many of the links above are direct to the policy statements which are in PDF format which requires Adobe Reader - note: if you are not familiar with the PDF format it can be a little slower to load up, so you may need to be patient…