Jacqui Lambie’s radical overhaul to rewrite the rules on real estate – and end Australia’s housing crisis

Independent senators Jacqui Lambie and David Pocock have demanded a crackdown on foreign property ownership in a bid to ease Australia’s housing crisis.

Crossbench senators are urging the Labor government to implement changes to negative gearing and reduce tax breaks for investment properties.

They said reducing these concessions could raise up to $60 billion over ten years, which could instead be spent on social and affordable housing.

The senators said they had asked the parliamentary budget office to examine five possible changes to capital tax benefits and negative gearing.

The senators say their planned reforms would protect homeowners’ existing investments while boosting the supply of new housing

“We need to make sensible changes,” Senator Pocock told the ABC.

“The major parties don’t want to talk about tax reform during a housing crisis, but we have to.”

The senators say their planned reforms include limiting capital gains tax rebates to future investments, while allowing existing property owners to maintain existing schemes.

They say this would protect current landlords as they look to leave existing homes to owner-occupiers and let investors put their money into new construction.

“If you design a house negatively, you can notice what’s already there before we change anything,” Senator Lambie said.

Senator Pocock added: “Move forward, you [would only get the] capital gains tax relief if you invest in new offerings.”

They also called for an end to foreign ownership, amid fears that foreign buyers are buying up properties, often by parents for their children while they study in Australia.

“The other thing we could talk about but we’re not talking about is foreign ownership,” Senator Lambie said.

‘Stop buying foreign property in our housing system. These are the kinds of moves we need to make.”

International students are allowed to purchase existing properties in Australia, but they must sell six months after graduating and leaving the country.

Foreigners can only buy brand new properties and need approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board, while permanent residents have the freedom to buy any property they want.

Labor lost the 2019 election by promising to scrap negative tax breaks and halve the 50 percent capital gains tax credit for investors and landlords, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese dumping his predecessor Bill Shorten’s policies into opposition.

They also called for an end to foreign ownership, amid fears that foreign buyers are buying up properties, often by parents for their children while they study in Australia.

Jacqui Lambie believes their planned reforms are not a silver bullet to solve the housing crisis, but are necessary to reduce the current imbalance

Senator Lambie believes their planned reforms will not immediately solve the housing crisis, but are necessary to reduce the current supply-demand imbalance that is causing prices to soar.

“We spend so much in taxes on people, tax credits on people with these houses? “It’s starting to reach the ridiculous,” she said.

Senator Pocock is confident Australians will support their planned reforms.

“There are quite a few polls and surveys showing that the majority of Australians actually support changes to our property system,” he said.

Critics of their proposals say that reducing incentives for people to buy investment properties would reduce the supply of homes available for rental, further increasing competition in the rental market and therefore driving up prices.

Such a policy would also benefit home seekers, but would hurt existing homeowners, who rely on an endless influx of foreign buyers to drive up prices and allow them to make a profit on sales.

The senators are now urging the government to implement the reforms.

“They said they would provide so many thousands of homes over the next 10 to 15 years, but that’s not enough,” Senator Lambie added.

‘This is not going to stop the housing crisis. Show some courage and start making more moves on the game board.’