Liberal MP John Alexander feels today's housing market and construction rate will only get worse for future home owners. Credit:Katherine Griffiths "It was galling in the extreme. "I come from a family with such a belief in the right to have the opportunity to own your own house if you are working. "I saw there was a massive problem happening." Since then it's only gotten worse for potential home buyers.

House prices soared 18 per cent over the past year in Sydney and 13 per cent in Melbourne, according to figures released last week. Data released last year showed prices jumped by 74 per cent over three years in Alexander's north shore electorate of Bennelong – a bigger increase than anywhere else in the country. That helps explain why Alexander has become perhaps the most passionate evangelist for action on housing affordability in federal Parliament. "This is the biggest domestic issue in Australian politics," he says. "People might think rising prices are a good thing, but there will be carnage if there is a price correction – it's terrifying.

"I have a grave concern the bubble is out of control." Alexander expected housing affordability to be a central part of the Coalition's pitch at last year's election. Treasurer Scott Morrison, after all, had publicly indicated he would crack down on "excesses" in negative gearing. But when Labor announced its plan to abolish negative gearing for property investors and cut capital gains tax concessions, the government saw political advantage in doing nothing. This dismayed Alexander, who felt the Coalition had ceded the housing affordability debate to Labor. The perception the Coalition didn't care about the issue was only reinforced last year when a Coalition-dominated committee on housing affordability made no recommendations for reform.

"I have felt like a lone voice on my side of politics for a long time," Alexander says. But now he's hopeful the pendulum has swung back his way. While the government won't touch negative gearing, the Treasurer has indicated an affordable housing package will be a centrepiece of the May budget. "More people on our side of politics understand what the problem is and know that we have to find a solution," he says. Alexander has developed his own suite of potential policies and is having them examined by the Parliamentary Library.

One of his big ideas is allowing first home buyers to access their superannuation to purchase property. If people can invest their super in shares, he asks, why not in home ownership? He also wants to give the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority the power to adjust the rules governing how easily banks can lend to investors each month – just as the Reserve Bank does with interest rates. The former top 10 tennis player – who won back John Howard's former seat from Labor at the 2010 election – says he came to politics too late to have any interest in playing partisan games. "We've got to put politics aside because what is happening in our housing market is unhealthy," he says. "We have to be able to look at every option.

"We have a serious battle on our hands here. We need to pick up arms and fight."