Page currently under construction. These are living documents, so are updated frequently.
Homes 4 Hobartians
1.1: Expedite & facilitate Hobart-wide rezoning (starting with areas close to PT & amenities) to allow for Mixed Use & Missing Middle type homes.
This includes; reducing limitations on “alternative” building & engineering materials (e.g. Rammed earth, “technical“ timbers, etc.), granny flats & insulated garage conversions & tiny homes, plus encouraging mutual & co-op housing.
This is frame-worked off the current proposed 30-Year Greater Hobart Plan.
Also worth watching is this hour long interview on why Rent Control Don’t Work (except when they do) & other housing solution with Australia’s own Cameron Murray, author of Rigged: How networks of powerful mates rip off everyday Australians.
1.2: Implement a Vacancy Tax or Empty Home Tax on Residential IPs, with possible extension to Commercial properties & developers via an Under Utilisation Fee.
This is to disincentivise non-productive capital rent seeking, “drip feeding“ land releases to distort value, land banking, & other socially & economically suffocating “financially smart” strategies that cause negative externalities.
Tenants struggling to find homes while houses sit empty (Tenants Union Tasmania).
Victoria’s Fairer Safer Housing
1.3: Advocate for the unifying of rates, stamp duties, utilities, etc., into a variant of a progressive % Land Value Tax (LVT).
It would be modelled, in part, on what has already been implemented in Australia (like the ACT) & improved upon inline with the Henry Tax Review - Towards Affordable Housing. There would be a grandfathering period of three years, as well as being able to carry forward costs incurred in the last three years because of COVID-19 (although these “credits“ would need to be used with the next three years).
1.4: A temporary rate, amenities, taxes, etc., offset or “community credits” for any property turned to use for emergency, crisis, or rental stress housing. These “community credits” could then be carried forward but would expire after three years from date of issue, with the HCC would underwrite the risk of material damage.
While the HCC cannot directly build homes currently, it can with the support of local residents & orgs facilitate practical strategies that can be implemented quickly (within <6 months), are material & practical improvements on peoples’ circumstances, & can continue for as long as the housing crisis does.