Under the model, a private third party would co-invest in properties in exchange for a slice of the property’s capital growth.

The shared equity set-up would allow first-time buyers to save less for a deposit to get a foothold in the market quicker.

On the downside, such a model could add to demand and drive up prices if it grew too large.

The suggestion comes via financial and property services companies LongView and PEXA which argue the housing system is failing Australians.

PEXA chief executive Glenn King said Australia’s housing affordability problem has been decades in the making.

Prospective homebuyers are finding it increasingly hard to get into the market without the help of their parents, and the experience of renting is insecure and increasingly expensive.

The post-pandemic rental crisis, driven by low vacancy rates and a growing population, is getting worse, with the latest data from PropTrack revealing new rental listings recorded their largest monthly decline since 2017 in April.

This dire situation for renters has become the backdrop for an increasingly fierce political stoush over the future of the government’s $10 billion Housing Austra;ia Future Fund.

The fund would provide 30,000 social and affordable homes over the next five years, but the Greens have called for more ambition on housing affordability and a freeze on rents.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has also hit out at the fund, questioning if the government would be able to supply the new houses, should the fund pass parliament.

“(The housing plan) doesn’t provide any support to the housing stock in Australia when you go out to an auction on a weekend, or you’re lining up for a rental property, it’s a giant Ponzi scheme,” he told Sky News on Wednesday.

“The Greens don’t support it, we don;’t support it and the houses won’t be delivered.

“I just don’t think (the government) have the ability to deliver the houses, and the issue in relation to housing in our country at the moment is one of supply. We need to get more land released at a federal, state and local government level.”

Mr Dutton urged for more collaboration between the Commonwealth and other levels of government

PEXA’s Mr King said the housing crisis had grown too big for governments to handle alone.

“The average total change in property prices each year amounts to a third of Australia’s GDP – more than the Australian federal government’s entire budget,” he said.

“Even if the government spent every dollar they have giving grants to homebuyers, the purchase affordability problem would still worsen.”

In the third and final edition of a three-part series on Australia’s housing crisis, the two firms have discussed the merits and downsides of various private housing models.

The shared equity scheme emerged as a potential winner that could get more people into home ownership.

The other model favoured by the researchers would see institutional investors create portfolios of homes for long-term rent, which they say would offer a better experience for renters and landlords alike.