A peak housing body has backed the Opposition’s plan to improve Australia’s housing outcomes by allowing home buyers to tap into their superannuation.
During a Coalition’s campaign rally on Jan. 11, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton reintroduced the 2022 election policy of permitting people to withdraw part of their super fund in advance to pay home deposits.
“That’s why a Coalition government will allow Australians to access up to $50,000 (US$31,000) of their super to buy their first home.”
In addition, the policy would be extended to cover separated women, a move considered by the Coalition as a way to reduce homelessness in women over 55 years old.
Following Dutton’s announcement, the Housing Industry Association (HIA)–Australia’s largest residential building organisation–announced its support for the Coalition’s policy.
“This policy acknowledges the reality that for many Australians, saving for a deposit is the greatest hurdle to entering the housing market,” HIA Managing Director Jocelyn Martin said in a statement.
“Allowing first home buyers to access their superannuation provides a practical and targeted solution to this challenge.
“Superannuation is designed to help people plan for their future retirement. There is no better security in your future than owning your own house.”
While the HIA considered the policy a meaningful step towards reducing the barriers for first-home buyers, the organisation said more needed to be done.
“We need to see policies that address land supply, reduce regulatory costs, and boost housing supply to meet the growing demand,” Martin said, noting that such policies required a strong and decisive government leadership.
“HIA believes that measures like this, coupled with broader policy reforms, can help to tackle the ongoing housing affordability crisis.”
Opposition’s Other Strategies for Boosting Housing Supply
Apart from the super policy, the Opposition also plans to improve the housing supply by cutting immigration.Dutton said if elected, the Opposition would reduce permanent migration by 25 percent from 185,000 to 140,000 places for two years.
The migration levels will then be kept at 150,000-160,000 places in the next two years, he added.
The opposition leader also promised to impose stricter caps on international students to relieve pressure on city rental markets, and prohibit foreign investors and temporary residents from purchasing existing Australian homes for two years.
“Using these levers, we will free up more than 100,000 homes over five years,” he said.
In addition, Dutton said the opposition would boost the housing supply by investing $5 billion in essential support infrastructure such as water, power, sewerage, and access roads.
Think Tank Says Super Policy Not Effective
Meanwhile, Brendan Coates and Joey Moloney from the Grattan Institute’s housing and economic security program, raised concerns that the Coalition’s super policy was not effective in addressing the housing crisis for low-income Australians.The two cited data points showing that the average super balance of people aged 25-34, who were in the poorest 20 percent of renting households, was only $5,000.
In comparison, they said the top 20 percent of renting households had a super balance of around $70,000.
The two also stated that allowing a large number of people to access their super could lift demand for housing, making home prices even more expensive.
