Greens housing plan will increase affordable rentals
Media Release | Spokesperson Scott Ludlam
Monday 16th August 2010, 10:28am
Share
4
in Housing Housing affordability Housing Availability
Announcing the Greens housing plan in Brisbane today, Greens Senator Scott Ludlam said the Convert to Rent Initiative will increase the amount of affordable rental housing, increase the availability of private rental accommodation and revitalise local neighbourhoods and economies.
“Convert to Rent provides financial assistance to property owners to convert vacant or unused space into rental units for low income households.
“There are too many Australians paying far more than they can afford for housing, leaving them unable to afford other essentials. Making use of the thousands of unoccupied buildings in our inner city areas to create affordable home just makes good sense,” Senator Ludlam said.
“This scheme has been running successfully in the City of London in Canada since 2008. It can easily be adopted here to create hundreds of homes in building that are currently unoccupied. It’s a simple, sensible, cost-effective way to make the most of housing opportunities,” Senator Ludlam said.
Greens senate candidate Larissa Waters said the Convert to Rent program would work well in Brisbane where there are over 22 000 households on waiting lists for public housing and around 45,000 unoccupied residential buildings in inner city areas.
“There is less public housing provided in Queensland than any of the other states. This initiative is one sensible way to help people on low incomes to get off the waiting list and into an affordable home,” Ms Waters said.
Convert to Rent will:
• Encourage landlords to provide dwellings to people on low-moderate incomes, and set appropriate levels of rents
• Provide incentives to property owners to convert their unused buildings/empty spaces above shops etc to affordable rental properties ($21,000 per dwelling maximum loan)
• Provide additional funding of $5000 for buildings and spaced to be modified for people with a disability
• Set a 20 year caveat for the program and give the federal government first option to purchase the property in the event of a sale
• Cost: $115 million would fund 5000 conversions including a minimum 15% funding to be available for modifications suitable for people with a disability.
Media Contacts:
Fernando de Freitas 0417 174 302 and Vivienne Wynter – 0419 029 728
Recent Comments