New analysis from the Grattan Institute shows that the Australian housing market is failing Australians under the age of 55 and is threatening to leave generations of permanent renters.

The 2016 Census confirms that home ownership rates have fallen significantly amongst all age brackets below the age of 55 over the last decade.

Importantly, the failure to house younger generations of Australians locks in intergenerational inequity as home ownership brings substantial benefits.

The Grattan Institutes Brendan Coates said:

"Without action there is a greater risk that millennials will miss out on the benefits of home ownership and those benefits are substantial.

"It's a way of saving in a tax-preferred vehicle, there are tax breaks available to owners that are not available to renters, it's also much more secure as a form of tenure.

By refusing to act on negative gearing and the capital gains tax reform, the Turnbull Government is making the crisis in housing affordability worse.

Labor believes that spreading home ownership and its benefits to younger generations should be an important national policy priority.

Maintaining tax concessions that preference property investors purchasing their fifth or sixth residential property over young first home buyers is just sheer madness.

Scott Morrisons bits and pieces housing affordability package outlined in the recent Budget does nothing to address this fundamental flaw in the Australian housing market.

Instead, Mr Morrison has put forward a first home saver scheme that was supposed to start on 1 July 2017 despite there being no legislation and which does nothing other than undermine Australias compulsory superannuation system and further disadvantage young Australians saving for retirement.