Home Ownership and the Role of Government

Abstract

Home ownership has been seen as a core aspiration and value for most, if not all, Australians from European settlement to the present. This chapter begins by examining Australia’s home ownership rate in a comparative context. Trends in this rate, changes in government support for home ownership and the reasons for emerging concerns about falling rates of home ownership, particularly among younger households, are covered next. The question of why home ownership has a dominant role in Australia and in countries with similar economic, institutional and cultural backgrounds is then addressed. Whether the support provided to this tenure, especially, the tax/subsidy concessions that accrue to homeowners, is an appropriate role for government is also considered.