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In a bid to overcome a lack of consumer consultation on housing affordability by the federal government, Mortgage Choice has unveiled plans to undertake its own public consultation to The Adviser.
Mortgage Choice CEO John Flavell said the recently launched Parliamentary Inquiry into Home Ownership “doesn’t look terribly different” to the one conducted through the Productivity Commission in 2004.
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“The government is just sort of gesturing to public opinion rather than delivering positive incomes. Where is the voice of the consumer?” he said.
“At Mortgage Choice, we really believe in listening to the voice of the consumer, and so we’re launching our own campaign … so that people can have their say. We’re trying to get meaningful feedback.
“What we want to do is get a critical mass of opinions and feedback, and keep it going as long as it takes. The more voices and the more real stories we can get, the more useful this is.”
The respected industry veteran said the major challenge of helping would-be first home buyers to get their foot on the property ladder has “become even more difficult in recent months because of changes to lending policy, equally applied to owner-occupiers as well as investors, which is having a significant impact in terms of first home buyers.”
Comments from the ‘Have Your Say’ campaign will then be collated and provided to the government as evidence of the real-life impact of housing stress and the need to act on addressing affordability constraints.
“The outcomes from the Inquiry into Home Ownership will not to be released until December, which I think is ridiculous, but at least that gives us time to gather meaningful feedback … and then to provide the government with a more meaningful view of what is happening at a practical level,” Mr Flavell said.
Consumers and industry professionals can have their say via the Mortgage Choice website or on social media.
