Thread: Should public land be made available for affordable housing.

Originally Posted by DiscoMick

It won't unless the housing is rented out at affordable rents, which won't happen under a private system, so it has to be government housing.

Unfortunately a private system has to make a profit, that's the system we live in. I'm thinking an organisation like the Salvation Army, overseen by a Federal Minister , funded by a lottery system. Start small, such as housing designed to accommodate those living rough on the streets. A medical facility would have to be included, for obvious reasons, perhaps using University students in their final year overseen by Military doctors. The students would be able to pay off their HECS debt quicker, and the Military doctors would gain valuable experience dealing with third World type problems, standing them in good stead for peace keeping / making operations which we have been told to expect more of in this overcrowded World. People like Twiggy Forrest could get involved, and other very rich people could add their expertise. As more of these facilities are built, employ the residents as cleaners, gardeners, etc, to help raise their self esteem. I know you can pick holes in this suggestion, I know that many homeless have alcohol/ drug problems, but moaning about a problem is not going to fix it. Some one has to make the first step.

I also know this won't solve the problem of the caravan park residents mentioned in the article. What's wrong with Governments providing public land for Government run caravan parks for low income residents, [ pensioners] where part of the pension is used for rent. Pie in the sky stuff, I know , but I remember a trip to Sydney, not that long ago, where almost every street corner in the CBD had a beggar, with a cardboard carton having their plea written in scribbled text. I've been to India, and seen the plight of their homeless, forced to begging on the streets. Not in my country, we should do better. Must do better. The journey of a thousand mile starts with a single step. [ rant over ]

I think it's great you're trying to get people to think about this topic in a sensible way Bob, so good on you.
I remember being shocked when I lived in Thailand to fly to Sydney one time and see there were more beggars in Sydney than in Bangkok. It just didn't seem right for such a wealthy country to fail to take care of its own people.

A recent report into superannuation by the Grattan Institute said an increasing number of older women without much super who were renting housing would become homeless when they stopped working because they wouldn't be able to afford market rents.

They said the only answer was to increase the rental supplement for pensioners, which hasn't kept up with rising rents.

So really, there is a whole chunk of the population who will never be able to afford to rent under the private rental market.
They include jobless young people who just can't survive on the tiny Youth Allowance.

Possible solutions?

Raise the rental supplement
Share houses where several people rent together
Studio apartments
Caravans

But they will have to be on public land, because they won't be affordable if they are private

Relax I am sure your property portfolio will still be on the rise with more public housing.

Cheers

Originally Posted by biggin

Grow up Martn.

The homeless are homeless for a reason and affordability is generally way down the list.

Many homeless are there by choice as has been said here but this isn't just a government problem it's a social problem as well if public housing was built rented out to low/middle income wage earning people then after say 7 years the government offered the tenant to buy the house for what it cost to build back then and rent paid could be there deposit and loan is government loan with small interest. This would ease pressure on private rental market which would see more homeless people in accommodation the money the government makes from sales on homes to tenants could go to building more homes. This could also work with hi rise accommodation as ownership of a dwelling bring pride in your home and that leads to less problems with hi rise complexes' the first home buyers in my opinion is a waste of money as the government offers a set amount and the new home goes up by that or more so the only winners there are the banks builders and real estate agents. To say we could put people on drugs in cheap housing wouldn't work as they wouldn't have the rent to pay to government or private as their habit is more important taking it out of there social security before they get it won't work as this would mean they find other ways to pay for there own self inflicted habit usually crime.

Originally Posted by laney

Many homeless are there by choice as has been said here but this isn't just a government problem it's a social problem as well if public housing was built rented out to low/middle income wage earning people then after say 7 years the government offered the tenant to buy the house for what it cost to build back then and rent paid could be there deposit and loan is government loan with small interest. This would ease pressure on private rental market which would see more homeless people in accommodation the money the government makes from sales on homes to tenants could go to building more homes. This could also work with hi rise accommodation as ownership of a dwelling bring pride in your home and that leads to less problems with hi rise complexes' the first home buyers in my opinion is a waste of money as the government offers a set amount and the new home goes up by that or more so the only winners there are the banks builders and real estate agents. To say we could put people on drugs in cheap housing wouldn't work as they wouldn't have the rent to pay to government or private as their habit is more important taking it out of there social security before they get it won't work as this would mean they find other ways to pay for there own self inflicted habit usually crime.

There was a system, called housing commission, in Qld , that provided low rent housing with an option to buy. I know because when we moved from the bush, in order to give myself and my siblings a better education than Dear Old Mum could give us over correspondence and school of the air, we lived win Nana , at Stafford Heights, three families in the one house. Probably not policy, but no one really checked back then, as long as the rent was payed. It may still exist, to my knowledge only Qld had this system. Being involved with a junior Rugby League club, you rub shoulders with all types, mostly from the lower social economic cohort [ love that word] and after talking to some young men who are at the coalface of poverty, who have mates who do drugs, I have found that their is a spirit of mateship among them, they look after each other. They don't condemn , or ostracise, they just get on with life. Leave us old farts in shame, really. Us oldies do not have the answer, the future of our Nation is not in the hands of the privileged children, I believe, but in the hands of the young ones who have done the hard yards. As it has always been. We ignore them at our peril.

Housing department still exists, after surviving an attempt by a previous mob to sell it off. Needs more funding.

The culture of privatisation has rapidly turned this country from a social democracy which cared for its citizens, towards becoming a capitalist autocracy that values a winner take all economy over humanity.

If we continue down this path, time will come where the people will rebel, homeless or not.

Originally Posted by Zeros

The culture of privatisation has rapidly turned this country from a social democracy which cared for its citizens, towards becoming a capitalist autocracy that values a winner take all economy over humanity.

If we continue down this path, time will come where the people will rebel, homeless or not.

Let's hope they rebel with the most important weapon they have, their vote.