HomeKeeper: Giving One’s Castle to the Government By James Reed

Chris Wallace, Professor, School of Politics Economics & Society, Faculty of Business Government & Law, University of Canberra, has a paper at The Conversation.com, putting the position that given the economic crisis, the government needs to implement a policy to be known as “HomeKeeper.” This is based upon the JobKeeper program rolled out during the Covid plandemic. Here is how this will work:

“Rather than loans or handouts, the government could take a small equity stake in the property, equal to the value of the mortgage aid as a proportion of the property’s market value at that time.

The idea is to give those experiencing mortgage stress a little breathing space to recapitalise and get them through until interest rates ease without having to lose their homes. Up to $25,000 in assistance per family would be a reasonable ceiling.

It would work like this. Say, for example, someone has a $500,000 mortgage and their monthly repayment is $5,000. They could apply for HomeKeeper assistance for five months (reaching the $25,000 cap). In return, the government would get a 5% equity stake in their house. This could also be taken out as partial assistance, depending on the home owner’s needs.

Then, when the owner is able to pay back the government’s stake, or when the house is sold – whichever is sooner – the government is paid back the market value of the equity stake at that time.

These equity stakes could be held in a government “housing trust” until repaid on market terms. This would reflect growth in the property’s capital value and make it a sound investment for taxpayers.”

It seems to me that the main problem here is given the present economic decline people will just lose their houses in the longer term. There is a great difference between JobKeeper and HomeKeeper, as HomeKeeper will be about the government keeping people’s homes.  What should be done is to get the economy in order, beginning with out of control mass immigration. But, that won’t happen without political action.

https://theconversation.com/we-all-know-about-jobkeeper-which-helped-australians-keep-their-jobs-in-a-global-crisis-so-how-about-homekeeper-218520?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20December%204%202023%20-%202813028483&utm_content=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20December%204%202023%20-%202813028483+CID_77817b9d17b1844f9e4752e24c2b906b&utm_source=campaign_monitor&utm_term=Wallace%20argues