No. 5

AFFORDABLE HOUSING INITIATIVES EXTENDED IN 2008-09
The ACT Government is continuing its commitment to ensuring that all Canberrans have access to safe, secure and affordable housing now and into the future. To meet this commitment, the 2008-09 Budget funds a number of the actions included in the Government’s Affordable Housing Action Plan, Chief Minister Jon Stanhope announced today.

“In April 2007, the ACT Government released its Affordable Housing Action Plan which contained practical steps that can, and are, influencing the affordability of housing, as the price of housing around the country continues to rise,” Mr Stanhope said.

“The ACT Government has responded quickly to implement the 63 initiatives included in the Action Plan. The Government has provided more opportunities for home ownership and rental accommodation, supported the growth of community housing and better targeted public housing.

“The 2008-09 Budget provides funding to continue our commitment to the actions listed in the Plan and building on the foundations laid in 2007-08. These include further accelerating the supply of land to the market with 4,200 blocks to be released in 2008-09 and more than 15,000 blocks over the next five years; continuing to diversify the range of housing products on the housing market with 15 per cent of blocks in new estates being for affordable housing; the introduction of a land rent scheme; and increasing the supply and range of properties available for private rental.

“There is $1.65 million in the 2008-09 Budget for the planning and future development of affordable housing in the new suburbs of Molonglo, North Weston and Gungahlin. This funding will ensure the timely delivery of new land in accordance with the ACT Government’s Residential Land Supply Strategy and Land Release Program.  Planning for Molonglo and North Weston is progressing with the first blocks expected for release at the end of 2008.  

“In new suburbs, the Government will ensure that a diverse range of housing products is available, with 15 per cent of blocks released each year to be for affordable house and land packages under $300,000. The first lot of these blocks have been released at Franklin and over 150 blocks have been sold in the first releases at West Macgregor.  

“As part of its comprehensive approach to affordable housing, the ACT Government is also establishing a land rent scheme, which allows home buyers to rent land from the Government on which they will construct their home. This assists first-home buyers by reducing their monthly mortgage payments.

“The ACT Government is also encouraging older Canberrans, particularly those on fixed incomes, to move into more appropriate housing based on their needs, by providing a one‑off exemption from conveyance duty to aged pensioners, eligible disability support pensioners, and Veterans’ Gold Card‑holders. This will also help to free‑up larger homes for younger families, while easing the burden of looking after a larger home for elderly Canberrans who live alone. 

“The 2008-09 Budget will also broaden the Home Buyer Concession Scheme in the ACT by increasing the income eligibility threshold to ensure that households in need continue to qualify for assistance. This initiative opens the Concession Scheme to a wider range of people and builds on the increase in the property value threshold announced in the 2007-08 Budget.

The ACT Government continues to implement practical initiatives that help Canberrans access more affordable and appropriate housing. The Government has already introduced a range of actions from its Affordable Housing Action Plan including:

•	increasing the supply of land by an additional 1000 blocks to a total of 3,200 this financial year;
•	adopting a rolling five‑year land release program;
•	streamlining land release and approval processes, and introducing englobo land releases;
•	mandating the delivery of house and land packages priced between $200,000 and $300,000;
•	providing more generous concessions, to help more Canberrans buy a home; 
•	inviting institutional investors to provide affordable private rental accommodation;  
•	boosting community housing with an equity injection of $40 million and a loan facility of $50 million;
•	ensuring that better and more targeted use is made of public housing - 87 per cent of new allocations are made to applicants in urgent need of housing compared with just over 38 per cent nationally; 
•	implementing measures to improve the energy efficiency of the public housing stock and reduce energy costs for public housing tenants;
•	releasing two demonstration projects to showcase affordable land and housing packages; and
•	funding a design award for excellence in affordable housing.

Statement ends

6 May 2008
Enquiries:    Penelope Layland	6205 9777	0438 289 714	penelope.layland@act.gov.au	Jess Wurf	6205 0504	0411 772 700	jess.wurf@act.gov.au