Scrapping CGT discount won’t solve housing crisis, says community housing advocate | The Business
Community housing advocates argue tinkering around with Capital Gains Tax concessions will do little to improve affordability.
They say turbo-charging the not-for-profit housing sector is critical to boosting supply, and reducing the growth of property prices.
Community Housing Industry Association NSW chief executive, Luke Achterstraat says the housing supply crisis is ‘real’ and ‘deepening’. He says while community housing advocates would welcome some changes to the CGT discount, as they recognise the role it plays in encouraging private investment in the market, it won’t do much to improve affordability for the most vulnerable in society.
“I think a lot of investors are essentially speculating and expecting that capital gain to occur with a reduced tax rate rather than necessarily looking for high yielding income-driven investment,” he says.
“I think there is some distortion that the discount creates…we would welcome government looking at that to maybe take the edge off some of that excessive or speculative demand, but certainly in the context of getting more homes on the ground, we feel it sort of misses that discussion.”
Instead, he’s calling on the government to double down on investment in community housing.
“Roofs over heads is essential, but community housing is also social infrastructure, the wraparound services, the support, employment pathways,” he says.
“It’s actually about getting people’s lives back on track, and I think that’s a segment of our community that’s often forgotten when we’re talking about capital gains tax and house prices.”
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