The only real solution to housing affordability that is environmentally sustainable is to STOP POPULATION GROWTH.

This kind of initiative is crucial in todays society. Critical.

But...; no votes in it. That's it. Whilst we continue with a political system which allows us no option than to vote in either the New Conservatives or the New Liberals; nothing will change; least of all housing affordability.

The irony of this, is that a disaffected and struggling society is a more expensive society to maintain.

WHEN Rudd takes Government, I will wait with forlorn resignation AND mounting anger as HE finds reasons to back-peddle on most of the promises (HAH!) he has made.

Still; a change is as good as a rest.

And by God!, do we need a rest!

introduce legislation to curb the immoral practice of investment purchasing of housing. the is simply no way a young couple can afford a home when the wealthy (& not so wealthy) "investors" buy everything before the young have an opportunity to save up for a deposit. I say no more than two houses per owner & we'll solve the housing affordability problem.

Andrew, posters, stop your bleeding heart and realise that investing in property is one of the only ways the average aussie can create wealth. Most are not share experts, have big money to put into funds and fixed interest, property is the only lifeline in many cases to financial security.

Couple that with inadequate supers, the fact that investment markets can be ruined by factors outside of our control, it is ESSENTIAL that all Australians consider this as a real option and are not crucified for it.

The fact is that without investors, the public housing burden would be immense and no matter who knocks it is a win for the government and a win for the investor, and the renting population gets housed.

As a young person and a person who has property and finance businesses i know how hard the property market is to get into, But it is our consumer society that is robbing the young of opportunites, not the climate. It has never been easier to get a home loan and whilst prices may be quite unaffordable, we must realise dwellings are getting bigger, the number of people per household are dropping, and our expenses have increased, so it is OUR standards that have contributed to the problem. If you want to be in the property market today and you cant afford what you want, thinking outside the square.

Get a group of friends and go tenants in common. Your rights are protected and your asset is quantifyable, saleable, and protected if the other parties default. Use your parents equity if they trust you. Buy something basic, it will still double every ten years.

The fact is, a 2 tiered society of affordable housing and regular housing only further creates haves and have nots, and caps the value of the asset purchased by the battler, in effect loosing the real benefit of home ownership. Have we also not learnt from the mistakes of public housing? Leave things the way they are, increase densities and start bringing through larger batches of stock to the market.

A semi-detached flat in Mosman Sydney could be bought for $13,000 and in Brisbane then a House on 607m2 could be bought for $6000.Young couples in 1967 started to be in competition with dealers and speculators who bought and sold for up to 400% profit in 6 months. The cashed up dealers sometimes borrowed and went broke when they did'nt anticipate the market correctly. But it was about then in Australia that the rich became richer and the poor became poorer and both married partners had to go to work to afford a mortgage. Nowadays they want a house as grand as Dad and Mums have which took them 30 years to own,council standards have increased the costs but the land is what has gone up to unanticipated prices.The supply and demand ratio is increasing exponentialy. Europeans live in rented apartments never buy a house in a lifetime.Our Governments must come into the market. That creative accounting error giving the Treasurer an extra 3 billion to spend, could buy enough real estate to compete with a lot of rich dealers and developers! The Gov't could then sell their portfolio to young couples on affordable terms.

The economics of house prices work like the economics of anything else – if prices go up, it’s usually because demand growth is faster than supply growth. Measures to address the social consequences of housing stress are appropriate and necessary, but the fundamental problem won’t go away until impediments to supply are addressed. A lot of those impediments are a result of Green ideology which constrains the development of new low-cost housing on the urban fringes.