The SA government is celebrating hitting the halfway mark in its 'one-thousand affordable homes' stimulus project, but critics say it's only the tip of the iceberg and much more is needed to address the mounting housing crisis.
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00:00Congratulations Toby. A momentous occasion in a merciless market.
00:07To be in a house of this quality at this age, I feel very lucky.
00:1123-year-old Toby Edwards has just bought his first home, thanks in part to the State Government's
00:17Home Seeker Scheme, which is celebrating hitting the halfway mark to 1,000 affordable homes.
00:24Affordable sale is a key component of the overall strategy the State Government has
00:28to combat what is a national housing crisis.
00:31Construction is now underway on the 578th property in the scheme, which sees people
00:37on low to moderate incomes able to access properties at fixed prices.
00:42It means eligible first home buyers don't have to compete with investors and aims to
00:47ensure they avoid financial stress by spending no more than 30% of their pre-tax income on
00:53mortgage repayments.
00:55It's something the Government says is an important initiative, helping get young professionals
01:00on the property ladder.
01:01It is the great Australian dream, that is to own your own house and to benefit from
01:06that.
01:07I can see the demand continuing for the next two or three years. It's not slowing up.
01:13But it's a competitive game, with agents saying some releases are selling out within minutes
01:18of landing on the Home Seeker website.
01:21And critics are concerned the scheme is barely scratching the surface.
01:25We welcome the progress, however it's still not enough and it's still way short of what
01:30we're needing.
01:31Many are finding themselves priced out of a seller's market. And while the Government
01:35currently has 33,000 homes in its public housing stock, thousands more are on waiting lists
01:42for social housing.
01:44What we should be looking towards is large scale, affordable, high quality public housing.
01:51This isn't going to be a quick fix, but it's something that we need in the long term.
01:55A problem with no immediate end in sight.