Tinkering around the edges isn’t helping. We need to reverse the commodification of housing with a model that puts people first.

All we’ve seen so far in this election campaign is that both major parties are comfortable addressing our housing crisis with the same old, tired policies. Preferring to tinker around the edges rather than drive structural change, the common policy thread is that housing commodification is here to stay.

The last five years have seen the most drastic land price inflation on record. National land values have jumped from $6 trillion to almost $10 trillion, yet the policy response is more of the same – let’s give developers even more market power.

Instead of addressing damaging tax incentives, the federal government has thrown $6.3 billion towards Help to Buy. The key problem with this concept is that it only lasts for one owner. The policy is like Groundhog Day, where more money has to be found each time a resident sells to fund the next first home buyer.

In the meantime, the policy also conveniently keeps the music playing so that pricing is maintained at current levels. In the UK, Help to Buy was howled down and finally shut down in 2023 with housing analyst Rose Grayston saying, “It was only really a gimmick that worked for the first group of buyers.”

The model that could maximise government investment in housing is Community Land Trusts. CLTs are a not-for-profit shared equity model that separates the cost of land from the cost of housing, making home ownership significantly cheaper while preserving affordability for future buyers.

That means home buyers can access secure housing with just 40% of the average deposit.

Over time, the resident not only saves 39% in housing costs, but also pays it forward to the next round of residents – recycling the government’s initial investment.

The _Grounded in Affordability report_ makes a strong economic case for CLTs. Compared to demand-side incentives such as Help to Buy or the First Home Buyers Grant, governments could enjoy a 450% return on investment by supporting CLTs instead. This is because the CLT becomes self-funding alongside its perpetual affordability outcomes.

If instead the Albanese Government channelled the $6.3 billion towards CLTs, it could provide the land and development funding for 18,000 homes. This would deliver $91 million in revenue by the fourth year of operation, in turn funding another 184 sites and growing.

Currently, baby boomers can access shared equity schemes in most states under the Retirement Villages Act. However, for younger generations, there are no equivalent opportunities. We urgently need governments to provide seed funding and enable legislation for CLTs, so that the young, and those starting over, can find realistic housing opportunities.

The CLT model has delivered significant success overseas; there is more than 50 years of CLT history in the US. In 1984, Vermont mayor Bernie Sanders provided $200,000 in seed funding for the Burlington Community Land Trust. This has now grown to more than 3000 homes managed with the driving principle that housing is a human right. During the GFC, the US foreclosure rate within CLTs was measured to be 82% lower than in the wider market. England currently has more than 7000 CLT homes in the pipeline, with even the previous Conservative Government supporting their expansion.

In Australia, there are already regional communities in Castlemaine, Bellingen and Fremantle beginning the journey towards creating a CLT. Each project varies based on the community’s needs. As well as the affordability benefits, residents are drawn to the idea of being more engaged with their neighbours, making each other’s lives easier via child minding, bulk buying or car sharing.

Across a typical 20-home development, a CLT could see an extra $308,000 in disposable income spent in local communities each year. Small business and employment growth would see the benefits instead of bank shareholders.

Saving money while helping others strikes a chord with those principles we were brought up to believe in: helping others, giving more than taking, a fair go for all. When we look at the dominance of real estate across politics, across culture, we have arrived at a point where many are starting to see that property profiteering is the Achilles heel of the democratic system.

We urgently need a change of culture in property, away from a “me” to a “we” when we think of a place to call home. Community Land Trusts are an authentic pathway forward, something sorely missing in this election.