New calls for Boomers to end housing crisis
New research has called for Boomers to rent out their spare bedrooms in a bid to address the country's housing crisis.
According to research from the Queensland University of Technology, there are more than 13 million spare bedrooms across the country, meaning 76 per cent of Aussie households have spare rooms.
The report has called for older Australians to rent out their spare rooms to provide “short-term relief to both the rental and the cost of living crisis”.
“If new housing stock is years away, then shifting the focus to existing housing may provide some short-term solutions,” the report states.
The report also found that more than six million homes have one or two spare bedrooms, while one million homes have three or more spare bedrooms.
They also encouraged the government to incentivise older Australians to open up their spare rooms to renters, to provide them some financial relief during the cost of living crisis.
Currently, the Government hopes to build 1.2 million homes, but have welcomed further ideas to help relieve the cost of living crisis.
“Meeting this ambitious target will certainly be a challenge and it won’t happen overnight, but it’s a challenge we have to meet in order to make housing more affordable," a government spokesman said.
However, the Queensland University of Technology noted that the demand for housing is set to outstrip supply in Australia until at least 2029, based on the government's State of the Housing System report.
“The housing crisis is a complex matter and new housing supply is years away, despite billions of dollars of government commitments,” the report states.
“Millions of empty bedrooms exist and yet many older homeowners live in poverty rather than risk losing their pension or paying taxes by renting out a spare bedroom.”
The report acknowledged that there may be barriers like concerns for elder abuse that may deter people from renting out their homes, "however, under the right circumstances, with appropriate support and education, such ‘house sharing’ arrangements could alleviate some of the current housing and cost of living issues."
“There is an urgent need for further research to be undertaken to explore opportunities to incentivise, educate, support, and protect older Australians to open their homes and unlock existing housing stock for immediate use by those in need.”
These findings follow PropTrack’s latest Housing Affordability Report that stated housing affordability in Australia has deteriorated to its “worst level on record” amid high mortgage rates and increasing home prices.
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