Australia’s cost-of-living crisis is being compounded by our housing crisis. As debate rages between NIMBYS and YIMBYS and the tension of competing priorities evolves, there is a more urgent housing matter that we need to talk about – foreign investors.
This week, the Daily Telegraph revealed that Asia-based investors without residency status acquired $5.1 billion of Australian real estate in the first nine months of 2023.
Even if YIMBYS are successful in driving home-building, there are years between development approvals and moving-in day. While we’re waiting, people who live overseas are free to snap up increasingly rare Australian real estate. This is neither logical nor fair, especially to young Australians – particularly those from regional communities moving to cities for study or for work. We should be prioritising Australians’ right to a home first. This is not about demonising foreign investors; it is about recognising that we simply do not have enough housing to enable young Australians to set down roots and get ahead.
The free market determines that homes should be sold to the highest bidder. But there must be parameters in place, so everyday Australians aren’t priced out by moguls and wealthy individuals abroad.
In the Budget Reply, Peter Dutton committed to a two-year ban on foreign investors and temporary residents purchasing existing homes in Australia. A Coalition Government will also reduce the permanent migration program by 25 per cent, from 185,000 to 140,000 for this two-year period. This is a policy that many Australians support, and it’s a policy that makes sense in the current environment. When there is only one house available for every 3.2 migrants in Australia, and rental inspection queues are frequently 40-50 deep, this is the action we need to take.
We must also address housing vacancies. While data fluctuates, the 2021 Census indicated that we have over a million vacant homes, accounting for over 10 per cent of all private dwellings in Australia. Despite these troubling statistics, the Government has done little over their two years in power to audit the reasons for residential vacancies. It remains unclear how many vacant properties are owned by foreign investors living overseas. Without this crucial information, implementing effective and comprehensive policy reform becomes an exceptionally challenging task.
Allowing foreign investors to purchase in-demand real estate with no intention of renting it out, removing stock from our rental supply chain as its value increases with population growth, is neither reasonable nor fair. Notionally, incentivisation is better than penalisation – but just as the government should create financial incentives to rent out homes, it must also consider disincentives to leaving investment properties empty amid a devastating housing crisis.
The housing crisis is dire, and the Albanese Government is not acting like it. We need immediate solutions, as well as ones that will come into fruition over the medium and long term.
Maria Kovacic is a federal Liberal senator for NSW
