Housing affordability front of mind for young voters amid housing crisis

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The housing affordability crisis is front of mind for many voters this election especially young people. But it's not just in the city where home ownership is increasingly out of reach, prices have also skyrocketed in the regions.

Transcript

00:00I will never be able to afford to live where I grew up. I won't be able to afford to live

00:06anywhere in the vicinity of where I grew up. For Alex Moore, that place is Kiama on the

00:12New South Wales South Coast, where the 21-year-old honours student lives with his parents.

00:17It's a wonderful place to grow up. It's a less good place to be 21.

00:20The median house price in Kiama is just shy of $1.5 million, making it the most expensive

00:27LGA in regional Australia. If you go by electorate, the least affordable is Richmond, where the

00:33median household is paying half of its income on rent, and would need more than 16 years

00:39to save for a 20% deposit.

00:41My policies just seem to be benefiting property investors.

00:44Social worker Shondray McSweeney lives in a share house in Mullumbimby with four other

00:49people to make rent more affordable.

00:52It is a dream to buy a house, but I just don't think as a single person that is a possibility.

00:57This election, Labor has promised to guarantee home loans with a deposit of just 5%, while

01:04the opposition wants to let first home buyers dip into their superannuation and claim mortgage

01:09interest as a tax deduction.

01:11What I think would speak to me more is if they would bring down housing prices or even

01:16rent prices as well.

01:18Experts warn both Labor and the Coalition's plans to help first home buyers are likely to

01:23drive up house prices even more, leaving many young people locked out of home ownership

01:28in their own town, and young voters considering other options.

01:32Where's long term vision for people of my generation? I just don't see any of it for neither of the

01:36major parties.

01:37The status quo just continues to keep on keeping on. So we really need to unwind the tax incentives

01:43that got us into this challenging situation.

01:47Like many coastal towns, Kiama has seen an increasing number of homes being used as short

01:53term rentals.

01:54That just means that it's not a rental property for someone living in that town. That's one

01:59fewer home for a young person that's looking for somewhere to live.

02:03It's very difficult to have this idealism that we could have a better world when you're looking

02:08right in front of you and there's just no future ahead of it for you.

02:11A sentiment that could make a difference at the ballot box moving forward.

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