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Can we learn from Britain's successes in affordable rental housing
The shift to not-for-profit housing associations continued after Labour took government in 1997. Smaller and locally based, housing associations were seen as more agile than councils, more attentive to tenants’ needs and better aligned with Tony Blair’s “Third Way.”
These arguments are familiar in Australia, where the not-for-profit, or “community,” sector is also growing. The Community Housing Industry Association’s chief executive, Wendy Hayhurst, recently urged the Albanese government to direct all the proceeds from its $30 billion Housing Australia Future Fund to her sector rather than do the “easy thing” and divvy the money up among community, state and private providers.
Hayhurst argued that community housing scores better on ratings of quality and resident satisfaction, a claim supported by the Productivity Commission’s most recent Report on Government Services. With its charitable status, the community sector is exempt from GST, land tax and stamp duty, which Hayhurst says enables it to build more houses for any given amount of money than state governments or businesses can.The elusive quest for decent homes • Inside Storyhttps://insidestory.org.au/the-elusive-quest-for-decent-homes/Not-for-profit associations are taking over as providers of affordable rental housing. What can Australia learn from Britain, where the trend is well advanced?Post is under moderationStream item published successfully. Item will now be visible on your stream.
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