Politicians are not interested in more affordable housing because it would cost them votes, according to the Barefoot Investor’s blunt assessment.
Finance guru Scott Pape told News Corp on Wednesday that the hard numbers of electoral calculations and the fear of a backlash from property owners are shaping the way politicians deal with housing.
‘The fact is that neither Labor nor the Coalition want to do anything that will cause house prices to fall… and become more affordable. Why not?
“Look at it from a politician’s point of view: one-third of voters own their own homes, another third are paying off their homes, while the final third are renting,” Pape wrote.
‘In other words: the vast majority of voters want their home to increase in value.
‘That means that politicians have to play a game of legislative limbo and come up with pole-dancing real estate policies that really achieve nothing.’
As an example of a useless policy, Pape was scathing in his criticism of the Albanian government Help to Buy scheme, which aims to help people on a low income, who have only 2 percent of their deposit, to buy a house.
Pape labeled this a ‘stupid idea’ because ‘married people shouldn’t buy houses’
Barefoot investor Scott Pape says politicians aren’t interested in making housing more affordable because it would lose votes
However, Pape said the biggest losers from the “housing dumpster fire” were not voters, but children who grew up without a stable roof over their heads, forced to constantly change schools and deal with the stress of parents looking for a place to live.
‘The long-term trauma of a childhood spent without a stable roof over your head, of constantly moving schools and dealing with the impact of mum or dad being constantly stressed about where they will live, is real and long-lasting ‘ he explained. .
He believed that housing was something that politicians could solve, but decided long ago “that it was a better vote-getter to give tax breaks to investors to provide private rental housing, rather than building more social housing.”
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was forced to ignore suggestions he is out of touch with people struggling to find housing after buying a waterfront mansion for $4.3 million.
The Prime Minister is the new owner of a five-bedroom home in Copacabana, just south of Avoca on the NSW central coast.
Mr Albanese will share the clifftop home with his fiancée Jodie Haydon, whose family live in the area.
Pape said governments were only interested in playing ‘legislative limbo’ to give the impression they were tackling house prices, fearing backlash from property owners.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been forced to deny claims he is out of touch with the struggles of ordinary Australians after purchasing a $4.3 million waterfront mansion
At a press conference in the southeast Queensland city of Logan, Mr Albanese was asked if he thought his expensive new purchase was “looking good” during the country’s cost of living crisis, driven by property prices, high interest rates and rental prices .
‘Jodie and I are getting married. Jodie is a Coastie. She is a proud Coastie – there are three generations of Haydons there on the Coast and when your relationship changes, your life changes and you make decisions,” he replied.
“But what I’m focused on is making sure everyone can have a roof over their head. I am focused on increasing investment in social and social housing.”
‘I also know what it’s like to struggle. My mother lived all her 65 years in the only public housing (apartment) in which she was born.
“I know what it’s like and that’s why I want to help all Australians into a home, whether it’s public housing, private rental housing, or homeownership.”