--- title: "Should Super Help Buy a Home? Bragg and Grattan Set Out the Case For and Against" url: https://australianproperty.network/opinion/point-counterpoint-debates/paired-perspectives/should-super-help-buy-a-home-bragg-grattan-paired-perspectives/ date: 2026-09-23 modified: 2026-09-23 lang: en author: "APN National Insight" description: "An APN 23000 Series Paired Perspectives: should Australians be able to use their superannuation to buy a home? Senator Andrew Bragg argues it would stop renting in retirement from becoming the norm. Matthew Bowes of the Grattan Institute argues it would not reach the people losing home ownership, who hold the least super. Two published views, given equal weight. All figures are the speakers' own claims; the central figures are tested in a companion APN claim test." categories: - "Paired Perspectives" tags: - "21660" - "Retirement" - "Superannuation" word_count: 1452 --- # Should Super Help Buy a Home? Bragg and Grattan Set Out the Case For and Against #### Should Super Help Buy a Home? Bragg and Grattan Set Out the Case For and Against APN 23000 Series  ·  23310 Paired Perspectives Reference O-260922-150807-MEDIUM  ·  22 September 2026  ·  Significance Medium The question Should Australians be able to use their superannuation to buy a home? Companion 22000 output [*Retired Renters and Super Lump Sums: Testing the Figures*](https://australianproperty.network/insight/thematic-insight/population-demographic-insight/population-demographic-claim-test/retired-renters-super-lump-sums-claim-test/) (I-260923-150808) Data anchors **NIL RETURN** Both positions were stated on the public record on 22 September 2026. Every figure below is the speaker's own claim; the two figures at the centre of the argument are tested against their primary sources in the companion output. Filed at MEDIUM significance: a live proposal from the Shadow Minister for Housing, on a question that bears on both housing demand and retirement income. ##### 23000 Series — Paired Perspectives The Australian Property Network's (APN's) 23000 Series is the attributed opinion layer of the APN Codex. A [Paired Perspectives](https://australianproperty.network/apn-codex/series-20000/series-23000/series-23300/series-23310/) piece sets two published views on one question side by side, each drawn from the public record in the speaker's own words and given the same structure and space. **Neither position is APN's, and the framing does not choose between them.** Where the evidence bears on the question, it is tested separately in the 22000 Series, so that the reader can see the arguments and the data apart. ##### The Question On 22 September 2026, Senator Andrew Bragg, the Shadow Minister for Housing and Homelessness, used an address to the Financial Services Council to argue that Australians should be able to use their own superannuation towards owning a home, whether by withdrawing a sum for a deposit or by using their balance as security for a loan. He said the ideas were options for debate, not Coalition policy. The same day, Matthew Bowes of the Grattan Institute set out why he doubts the approach would help the people it is meant to help. **The two agree that falling home ownership threatens security in retirement; they disagree on whether superannuation is the way to address it.** Position A — For Senator Andrew Bragg Shadow Minister for Housing and Homelessness, Liberal Party ###### The position Owning a home outright should be the first priority of retirement policy, and Australians should be able to use their own superannuation to get there. ###### The reasoning Retirement rests on three pillars: private savings including the home, superannuation and the Age Pension. The latest Intergenerational Report, he notes, identifies housing status as a strong predictor of how well retirement goes, and renting in retirement should be a choice, not the default the system produces. Superannuation and housing policy should work together rather than in separate silos. Comparable countries (Singapore, Canada and New Zealand) let people use compulsory savings for a first home, and Labor's own 1993 housing policy proposed a first-home account drawn from super. ###### The evidence cited The share of retirees renting has doubled from 6% to 12% in 20 years, and he expects close to a million retired renters within a decade. ABS data show 32% of superannuation lump sums going to pay off mortgages, so much of the money already reaches housing, but only at the end of working life. Asked the same day about the effect on prices, he described it as immaterial in a housing market worth $11 to $12 trillion. ###### In his words > “We don’t want to make renting in retirement compulsory.” **Source:** Financial Services Council address, “A nation of retired homeowners”, 22 September 2026 (video); and [interview, ABC News, 22 September 2026](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09-22/should-superannuation-be-used-to-assist-in-home-ownership-/107182882). Retrieved 23 September 2026. Close paraphrase with the short quotation marked. *Context:* the speaker is an opposition frontbencher; he described the options as not yet Coalition policy. Position B — Against Matthew Bowes Senior Associate, Grattan Institute ###### The position It is not clear that letting people use super for a home would help those who are struggling most to buy one. ###### The reasoning The fall in home ownership has been steepest among young Australians on low incomes, and they are the group least likely to hold much superannuation. People who do have substantial super would gain, but they already receive considerable support. The underlying problem is a shortage of affordable first homes in the places people want to live, which access to super does not change. ###### The evidence cited Grattan's published analysis (Brendan Coates and Will Mackey, April 2021) found that the poorest fifth of households headed by a 35 to 44-year-old typically hold no superannuation, and the next fifth about $15,000. Home ownership among the poorest fifth of 25 to 34-year-olds fell from 63% in 1981 to 23%. Letting more people use super to buy adds demand without adding homes, which lifts prices and mainly benefits those who already own. ###### In his words > “They are the group least likely to have substantial amounts of superannuation.” **Source:** [interview, *The Guardian* Australia, 22 September 2026](https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/sep/22/angus-taylor-andrew-bragg-first-home-buyers-use-super-offset); supporting analysis from Grattan Institute, [*The Conversation*, 11 April 2021](https://theconversation.com/housing-affordability-is-a-problem-heres-why-super-for-housing-isnt-a-solution-158699). Retrieved 23 September 2026. Close paraphrase with the short quotation marked. *Context:* Grattan is an independent public policy think tank. ##### Where They Agree, and Where They Divide The two positions share more ground than the headline disagreement suggests. Both treat home ownership in retirement as central to financial security, and both accept that ownership has been falling among younger Australians. Both also point to housing supply: Bragg criticises policies he says will reduce the number of homes built, and Bowes names the shortage of affordable first homes as the underlying problem. **They divide on two questions the evidence can in principle answer: who would use super for a home, and what that would do to prices.** Bragg's case rests on the scale of the problem and on overseas precedent; Bowes's rests on who holds superannuation and on the demand it would add to a constrained market. *Also on the record the same day.* Peter Tulip, Chief Economist at the Centre for Independent Studies, supported using super as security for a home loan in principle, but called his support qualified because, in current conditions, he expects it to raise prices. Misha Schubert, Chief Executive of the Super Members Council, said “the way to improve housing affordability is to significantly boost housing supply”; the Council represents profit-to-member super funds, whose balances such a policy would draw on. ##### APN Clinical Reframing Stated in structural terms, the question is whether letting households draw on retirement savings earlier would raise home ownership among those now falling short of it, or would mainly bring forward purchases by those already able to buy, at a higher price. Bragg's position is that the long-run cost of renting in retirement outweighs the price effect, which he regards as small against the size of the market. Bowes's position is that the benefit would accrue mainly to people who already hold substantial super, while the added demand would lift prices for everyone else. Both are coherent; **which is right depends on how the policy would be designed and who would take it up, and neither speaker offers modelling of the specific options raised.** The address also contained remarks about the Government, the Treasurer and a regulator; they concern people and institutions rather than this question, and are not reproduced. Two of Bragg's figures carry much of his argument: the doubling of retirees who rent, and the 32% of super lump sums that go towards housing. The [companion National Insight output](https://australianproperty.network/insight/thematic-insight/population-demographic-insight/population-demographic-claim-test/retired-renters-super-lump-sums-claim-test/) tests both against the ABS and HILDA records. Earlier modelling of the Coalition's 2025 withdrawal policy, commissioned by the Super Members Council, estimated price rises of up to 10.3%; that figure relates to a different policy from the options now raised, and is noted here only as context for the price debate. No figure in this piece may be treated as an APN-certified position for any 21000, 22000 or 24000 Series node. ##### Disclaimer The analysis, information, and opinions contained in this article are for general informational and strategic purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment, legal, or any other form of professional advice. The Australian Property Network (APN) is a strategic intelligence organisation and is not a licensed financial advisor. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this text belong solely to the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Australian Property Network (APN). This content may be based on data from third-party sources believed to be reliable; however, APN provides no warranty as to its accuracy, currency, or completeness. Images used are for illustrative and conceptual purposes only and may not represent real persons, properties, or events. Property values and market conditions can go down as well as up. Before making any property or investment decisions, you must conduct your own thorough research and seek independent professional advice tailored to your specific circumstances.