PUBLIC HOME OWNERSHIP SYSTEMS
A TOOL FOR BOOSTING AFFORDABLE ACCOMMODATION
In Australia, when we talk about public housing we are usually talking about government owned public rental housing systems that provide low cost rental accommodation for low income earners (and public servants who live in remote areas). However, in places like Singapore, public housing can also mean systems that help people on limited incomes buy a home of their own instead of renting.
Done well, Public Home Ownership (PHO) schemes have a number of attractions:
Users get the security, freedom to modify and control over decisions about pets etc. that comes with owning a home.
Governments don’t have to have the huge amount of money tied up in the system. (PHO users buy the houses from the government. These payments can then be used to acquire more accommodation that, in turn, will be sold to new public home owners and…..)
The housing affordability problems caused by private housing being used as an investment can be avoided by insisting that houses bought under PHO schemes can only be sold to the PHO at prices that reflect general inflation rates, not the crazy things happening in the private home market.)
