RENTAL ACCOMMODATION — APARTMENTS
403. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Minister for Housing:
I
refer to record increases in rental costs in Western Australia and the dramatic
reduction in rental property availability and note the build-to-rent
land tax relief and off-the-plan transfer duty rebate schemes announced in the
budget.
(1) How many
proponents have approached the government to build new apartments specifically
for the rental market?
(2) When does the
minister expect those apartments will become available for struggling renters?
Mr J.N.
CAREY replied:
I thank the member for his question.
(1)–(2) I
am deeply proud to be part of a government that has driven a very clear reform
program to accelerate housing delivery. We have done that through many
different ways. Of course, we brought in the building bonus grant. In the last
financial year, we saw 27 000 building approvals, with 4 000 in the regions.
The advice is very clear on that from the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre: as
those homes are completed, we will see around 10 000 rentals come into the
market. The logic is clear: as homes are completed, new home owners will leave
their rental properties and go into those new homes.
We have also announced the housing
diversity pipeline. It is a signature reform about identifying lazy land and
going out to the market to see what we can secure from that land, whether that
is ground leases, build to rent or a social
housing return. In fact, we had 60 different organisations—not-for-profits
and private developers—express interest in those 12 properties.
The third part, which the member has
identified, is the taxation reform that we announced that included a 50 per cent
rebate for build to rent. We want to grow the build-to-rent sector because we
know—we can look to the eastern
states—that build to rent is a model that can deliver a range of rental
properties to boost supply. We also
announced a 100 per cent rebate on low-cost or affordable apartments because
what we know is we want to grow affordable apartments. We have also
announced that we are working on and developing a building bonus grant for
social housing.
I
note that our measures were applauded by, for example, the Property Council of Western
Australia, which said these kinds of measures are needed to boost
housing supply into the future. I note that the opposition, despite having had
nearly one and a half years, has not delivered any measures or suggestions—lots
of attacks—to boost any
construction. Of course, as the Minister for Planning knows, we have an
opposition that opposes infill and
opposes apartment dwellings. We want to provide housing choice to Western Australians.
Although we have provided support through
the building bonus grant, we also want to encourage apartment living so
that people can afford to live in the suburbs where they currently reside. This
range of measures, including the building bonus grant, our social housing
program, our housing diversity pipeline and our measures relating to tax, will
all boost housing supply in Western Australia.