Submission: Kickstarting the productivity conversation

Submission to the NSW Productivity Commission

The Tenants' Union of NSW is pleased to make this contribution to the conversation initiated by the NSW Productivity Commission. We are chiefly interested in the experience of people who rent their home in NSW and how the productivity conversations impact upon them. We note that the federal Productivity Commission produced a report earlier in 2019 also examining the experiences of people who rent their home and making a number of recommendations.

We are pleased that these issues are being considered. Our comments and recommendations are limited to the questions which we answer here, being:

• What steps could the NSW Government take to reduce its reliance on transfer duty? (page 99 of the discussion paper)
• What steps could the NSW Government take to improve residential development regulations to support an adequate supply of affordable housing? (page 119 of the discussion paper)
• Should the NSW Government level the playing field in the housing sector by supporting a more stable source of housing supply? If so, how? and
• What is the most efficient mix of planning, regulatory and tax settings to deliver outcomes that get the balance right between tenure security and housing mobility? (page 121 of the discussion paper)