Millennial solutions to housing affordability
The Australian dream of owning a home is one that many young people feel is unattainable due to housing affordability. Although often depicted as being focused on lifestyle and living for ‘experiences’ rather than buckling down and saving up, new research recently released by ING found that more than a third of millennials are savings towards buying a home. However, the property landscape has changed drastically in Australia. According to data collected by Census in 2016, around 31 per cent of the population owns their home, 30.9 per cent are currently renting and 34.5 per cent own a home with a mortgage. Although, past and current data shows the proportion of people renting is steadily rising, while those who own their home are steadily declining.
So what is the solution to Australia’s property bubble? Leading Australian lifestyle property group BresicWhitney vox-popped a group of millennials on what they would like to see done to improve the housing situation in Australia. From limiting tax breaks to a community for young people, the suggestions might surprise you.
“I’d like to see tax breaks limited to just one property. But what might be more realistic is greater community/cooperative housing ideas. Stucco is one example in Sydney that costs students just $100 a week. And more cooperative developments that are cheaper when buying off the plan, Nightingale in Melbourne is one model of that.”
Tristan, 24.
“We need millennial community blocks (the opposite of an over-55 village). Apartments could be tiny (*cough* affordable!) but there’s a bigger focus on community, communal eating/cooking/living areas. Like a hostel, except you have to apply to live there and are bound by a community code of conduct.”
Kat, 29.
“We’re all screwed until the government fully invests in infrastructure, and the digital workplace allows you to work completely remotely. We need high-speed rail networks from the north, south and west that actually allow Millennials to start living further from the city while staying connected.”
Blake, 25.
“We need more rent-to-buy and deferred payments that aren’t just quick-sell schemes for developers. Or, new fin-tech solutions that allow us to buy up equity in Baby Boomers’ properties. Cash flow would free them up, and we could spread our investment to owning say 5% of 3 different houses in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.”
Will, 25.
There you have it folks, a small yet insightful peek into the ideas bubbling away in the minds of millennials today.
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