Prosper Australia President Catherine Cashmore had a busy week. First, Catherine was interviewed by Raph Epstein for ABC FM Drivetime.
Then Catherine was asked to appear on SBS News Saturday night in Vacant Homes in Sydney draws Attention of UN. Channel 9 news also referenced this report.
Earlier in the week, our Speculative Vacancies Report was mentioned in an interview on the ABC’s highly respected AM radio show by the UN Special Rapporteur Leilani Farha, author of the Financialisation of Housing report.
Prosper featured on page 3 of the Australian Financial Review in Victoria’s vacant housing tax seen as thin edge of the wedge, the day after the Andrew’s government announced their ‘Housing for Victorians’ policy:
Karl Fitzgerald, the director of Prosper Australia, said a tax based on improved values could have the unintended consequence of reducing housing stock and should be based on land values.
“It may have the perverse incentive of encouraging investors to knock down old weatherboard homes so their values are lower and they pay less,” Mr Fitzgerald said.
A flurry of articles related to the commodification of housing have highlighted Prosper’s vacancy report:
- The Guardian – ‘Housing should be seen as a human right. Not a commodity’
- Architecture AU – Commodification of housing leading to empty homes, greater inequality, UN report finds
- Melbourne University academic Dr Kate Shaw also referenced the report in her piece on Melbourne needs more than inner city dogboxes.
In other media news, I was the guest for an extensive interview on housing in the Well May We Say podcast late last week, discussing in detail the Andrews Government’s ‘Housing for Victorians’ policy.
Next week’s Renegade Economists podcast will feature David Wachsmuth, a Canadian academic involved in Vancouver’s 1% Vacancy Tax development.
This sort of fast-paced week is becoming the norm for the Prosper team. We thank you for your support, with more members and donors our ability to challenge the rent-seekers improves.
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