Blessing Bags Statement: Federal Government 'HomeBuilder' program
On June 4 2020 the Federal Government announced the HomeBuilder scheme will provide all eligible homeowners with a grant of $25,000 to build a new home or substantially renovate an existing home until December 31 2020.
Home owners are subject to eligibility criteria, including:
Income caps of $125,000 for singles and $200,000 for couples based on their latest assessable income
A national dwelling price cap for new built homes of $750,000
A renovation price range of $150,000 up to $750,000 will apply to renovating an existing home with a current value of no more than $1.5 million.
The program is expected to provide around 27,000 grants at a total cost of around $680 million.
The Blessing Bags Team is deeply disappointed in the Federal Government’s announcement of the Home Builder program. This is a missed opportunity to invest in more social housing across Australia, which would create more jobs while working towards ending the housing crisis in Australia.
Since March people experiencing homelessness have been housed in temporary accommodation in hotels and motels across the country. As the recession deepens in Australia, social housing is needed to support the thousands of Australians experiencing homelessness, or about to experience homelessness for the first time. As more people are likely to lose their jobs and enter financial hardship and housing stress, it is likely people will experience homelessness in the near future. We cannot continue to ignore the fact that rising housing and living costs are hurting low-income earners the most. With more than 116,000 Australians without a home every night, we must support vulnerable Australians by building more social and affordable housing.
References:
Prime Minster of Australia, 2020 ‘HomeBuilder program to drive economic activity across the residential construction sector’, viewed June 4 2020, retrieved from: https://www.pm.gov.au/media/homebuilder-program-drive-economic-activity-across-residential-construction-sector
Coat, B 2020 ‘Money for social housing, not home buyers grants, is key to construction stimulus’, The Conversation, viewed 4 June 2020, retrieved from: https://theconversation.com/money-for-social-housing-not-home-buyers-grants-is-the-key-to-construction-stimulus-139743?utm_source=Council+to+Homeless+Persons+E-news+list&utm_campaign=28395fa31b-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_06_25_05_11_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_47e37fdcf8-28395fa31b-423061478&mc_cid=28395fa31b&mc_eid=169f4338fb
Wiltshire, T, Coates, B & Daley, J 2017 ‘Poorer Australians bear the brunt of rising housing costs’, viewed 4 June 2020, retrieved from: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-29/poorer-australians-bear-brunt-of-rising-housing-costs-charts/9202804
Mission Australia, 2018 ‘Homelessnes & Social Housing, viewed June 4 2020, retrieved from: https://www.missionaustralia.com.au/what-we-do/homelessness-social-housing
