FAQ
Q. What are the basic ideas behind this websites?
1. Housings costs are too high and caused by government policies.
2. Property owners are a fairly well organized voter group who want to see house prices rise.
3. Propertyless younger and poorer people are not an organized voter group and need to unite.
4. Voting against governments who preside over rising prices will encourage more balanced housing policy.
Q. Why do we want affordable houses?
We don't rejoice when food or petrol prices increase. So we shouldn't rejoice when house prices increase. House prices are high. Unaffordably high. If you dont already own a home, you will need to work yourself into an early grave to buy and pay the mortgage off. Furthermore, house prices do not need to be this high. Australia has good more land per a person than perhaps any other developed country. Unaffordably high house prices are partially due to a range of government policies and these must be changed to make houses more affordable. At present houses cost 10 times the average wage, around $500,000. This is too high. We want it lower, much lower, to perhaps 5 times the average wage, around $250,000. This suggests that we are paying someone $250,000, or 5 working years, too much money. House prices can and must be made lower.
Q. How will it work?
We need tell the government to enact effective policies that make houses more affordable, or we must vote them out. Your vote is the only thing politicians pay attention to. Until they are afraid they will be voted out, they will make no changes. At each state and federal election, this site will evaluate whether the presiding government has successfully made houses more affordable by considering changes in house prices. If house prices are higher, the endorsement will be to vote them out. If house prices are lower, the endorsement will be to vote them back in. This information will be published on the website, and emailed to voters registered on this site.
Q. How will the endorsement be determined?
Australian Bureau of Statistics publications will be used to determine whether house prices have gone up or down over the term of the presiding government. If house prices are higher, the endorsement will be to vote them out. If house prices are lower, the endorsement will be to vote them back in. This method has been chosen as an simple and unbiased measure of whether the government is serious about tackling housing afford ability.
Q. How long it will take?
It will take a long and sustained effort to force the government to reduce house prices. There are alot of vested interests and votes in sustaining the current level of house prices. It is unlikely to happen immediately, but when enough people start voting for affordable housing, the government will take action. Realistically, it will take several years if not decades for the government to start to listen and turn their policies around and make effective changes. Furthermore, even if prices were stable rather than dropping, it would take more than 10 years be become what might be considered affordable in comparison to wages.
Q. How can I help?
Vote for affordable housing, as this site suggests. Ask your friends to consider doing the same. If you have a blog, create a link to this site.
Q. Why don't you base your endorsements on elections promises?
Election promises are often broken. The are difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of them. And any endorsement based on them may be considered subjective and biased. For organizing ourselves to vote collectively it is much better to have a clear and unbiased way of making an endorsement.
Q. Why are house prices high?
House prices are high for a variety of reasons. Due to the number of factors contributing to house prices, it becomes a very complicated topic. For this reason we do not discuss it here. There is plenty of information on the internet. What we do know is that with Australia's low population and plentiful land, there is no need to have high house prices.
Q. What's wrong with house prices anyway?
There are many problems.
We become trapped out of housing.
We have to live with smaller/worse housing.
We spend too much time working to pay a mortgage.
We spend too little time with our loved ones, children, and friends.
Without a stable home our lives are less certain.
Too many people have been lucky on property, and the rest of us are paying them for it. It is unfair and unnecessary.
Q. Why do I need to use this site?
Use this site to join others like you who believe property needs to be more affordable. Only collectively can we send a clear message to the government. This site will help you use your vote to tell the government to reduce property prices.
Q. Who should use this site?
You should use this site if:
If you don't own a property.
If you think property prices are too high.
If you are worried about your children being able to buy a home.
Q. Why won't the government sort it out?
At present the government has little interest in making effective changes to make houses more affordable. More than 60% of people own homes and they already have a vested interest in keeping house prices high, and vote accordingly. The members of parliament themselves tend to be well paid and older, and consequently own their own home, and mostly several investment properties as well. They do not want to see house prices decrease, unless their job depended on it. And the same can be said of the senior public servants, who also tend to be older and owners of 1 or more properties.
Q. Won't reducing property prices be bad for the economy?
No. What some people will lose in house price increase, others will gain by lower housing costs. It will create a more balanced economy. In the long run, high property prices are ruining this countries standard of living. It is essential that houses become affordable to have a well balanced and affordable economy. Otherwise we have an unbalanced and unaffordable economy, divided into haves and have nots.
Q. Who are you?
We are a single person, who although a on good income, cannot afford a house for his family. We believe that all of our country will be better off when houses are more affordable, and we can get on with living our lives, rather than struggling to pay off a 30 year mortgage. We are not affiliated with any political or non-political organization. This site started on 24th March, 2008.
