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"Australia to Give Investors Tax Credits to Build Rental Houses"
By Madelene Pearson
March 3 (Bloomberg) -- Australia will give investors tax incentives to build up to 100,000 new rental properties, double the amount previously promised, to make housing more affordable.
The Labor government will provide private investors with tax credits of A$6,000 ($5,599) a year for 10 years for new properties rented at 20 percent under the prevailing market level, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said in an e-mailed statement.
He made the announcement today in Brisbane.
Rudd promised to set up a so-called National Rental Affordability Scheme and provide tax incentives for 50,000 new rental properties before winning power in November. Australian housing affordability deteriorated in the fourth quarter to the worst on record after the nation's central bank raised borrowing costs to an 11-year high.
``There is currently very little investment from institutional investors in residential property in Australia,'' Rudd said today. ``This doubling of the number of affordable rental properties to be built under the scheme reflects the severity of the housing affordability problem in Australia.''
State and territory governments will give A$2,000 per home either through cash payments or in kind, such as concessions on stamp duty, Rudd's statement said. The initiative will cut the rent of a new average three bedroom unit costing A$350 a week by A$70, he said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Madelene Pearson in Canberra on [email protected]
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Can anyone see our great socialist leaders doing this in NZ?
I can't work out how ring fencing losses and increasing building code red tape
will produce cheaper houses...
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