The Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST) has raised serious concerns about the impact on housing prices if the Morrison government’s proposal to allow access to superannuation for first home buyers becomes a reality, as well as undermining of the core purpose of the superannuation system.
“Accessing your super early won’t get you closer to your dream home or fix Australia’s housing crisis. Using super as a deposit will drive up property prices, leaving Australians with higher debt and depleted retirement savings,” CEO of AIST Eva Scheerlinck said.
“First home buyers are being asked to choose between a home and saving for their retirement, they should be able to have both. The Australian Government must address this modern-day inequity by addressing supply issues rather than raiding super. A first home should not come at the expense of dignity in retirement.”
“Today’s policy announcement by the Morrison government ignores all of the research on housing affordability triggers and will further inflate house prices. This is an ill-informed and ill-targeted measure, and all Australians should be aware of the dangers of this proposal,” Scheerlinck said.
It would also significantly reduce asset diversification by further concentrating Australians’ savings in residential property while doing nothing to address the fundamental challenges of saving for a home, such as stagnant wages and rising inflation.
Individuals should not be expected to sacrifice their quality of life in retirement because housing is unaffordable.
More needs to be done to address the supply of housing and superannuation should not be the ‘go to’ to fix systemic problems that are the responsibility of government to address. “Superannuation was established to provide support for Australians in retirement and it is not a piggy-bank the government can open at its convenience to avoid dealing with the real systemic issues facing first home buyers.”