David Pocock (ACT, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak about housing and specifically about the government's build-to-rent bill and a really constructive joint proposal from the Community Housing Industry Association, National Shelter and the Property Council of Australia to improve the bill. As it currently stands, their concern is that the Treasury Laws Amendment (Build to Rent) Bill 2024 will not significantly increase the supply of homes that we so desperately need. Their proposal to lower their MIT withholding rate to 10 per cent, with some strong conditions attached, would deliver 105,000 new rental homes, including 10,500 affordable homes managed by community housing providers and at a minimal cost to the government of $9.3 million over a 10-year period in forgone tax. Given that the government is facing a shortfall of some 300,000 homes in its target of 1.2 million over five years under the Housing Accord, this additional supply would be very welcome. And that's not even looking at the shortage of more than 650,000 social housing properties across the country.

This proposal will help put downward pressure on the skyrocketing rental costs we have seen across Australia. It could immediately unlock 1,200 additional affordable rentals. This is critical at a time that we are seeing NRAS properties leave the system. Really importantly, it could also deliver better conditions for renters. This is taxpayer money with conditions attached to it: the certainty of five-year leases for these rentals and the protection of no-cause evictions.

I know the Greens don't love this build-to-rent policy, but when you've got community housing providers coming together with residential property developers to propose something workable, something constructive, I think it's worth considering, and I would urge my colleagues in here to take a serious look at it and whether or not it's worth supporting. (Time expired)