Allowing prospective home buyers to access their superannuation to purchase a property is "a good idea" that should be considered by the Federal Government, says former prime minister Tony Abbott.

Key points: Tony Abbott says proposal to allow access to super for home deposits had "some merit"

Tony Abbott says proposal to allow access to super for home deposits had "some merit" He says Government needs to focus on increasing housing supply

He says Government needs to focus on increasing housing supply Government has not ruled out or supported proposal

His comments came hours after Treasurer Scott Morrison outlined his plan for addressing skyrocketing property prices in Melbourne and Sydney in a key pre-budget address, which carefully made no reference to the proposal.

Mr Morrison and some Coalition MPs have not explicitly ruled out the controversial proposal that was described by Malcolm Turnbull as a "thoroughly bad idea" in 2015.

Last month, Mr Morrison said there was no plan to allow younger Australians to access to super but some within Government are pushing the idea.

Mr Abbott told reporters in Sydney he had "sympathy" for those who wanted to access their retirement savings and said the proposal had "some merit".

"You want your money to be as useful as it can be," he said.

"Superannuation is not the Government's money, it is the people's money.

"If people would prefer to use it to put down a deposit on a home rather than saving it up for 30, 40 or 50 years' time then, why not? I think this is a good idea."

Mr Abbott said the Government needed to focus on increasing the supply of housing and to scale back demand by curbing immigration.

Superannuation access a divisive issue

Allowing early access to retirement savings was not mentioned by the Treasurer on Monday, who instead reaffirmed the Government's opposition to changing negative gearing and called for more private investment in affordable housing.

"Disrupting negative gearing would not come without a cost, especially to renters, let alone the wider economic impacts. Proponents of disruptive negative gearing changes have ignored this fact," Mr Morrison said.

"This would not be good news for the 30 per cent of Australian households who rent."

Sorry, this video has expired No changes to negative gearing, says Scott Morrison

Allowing younger Australians to access their superannuation was floated in 1993 when former Labor prime minister Paul Keating took it to an election, only to abandon it a short time later.

Former treasurer Joe Hockey returned to the idea in 2015, drawing criticism from Finance Minister Mathias Cormann, who said it would only increase property prices.

Senator Cormann repeated his opposition last month saying "you don't want to pursue measures that boost demand".

The Committee for Economic Development of Australia has supported the idea, calling for super to become an after-tax payment to address equity concerns.

The Grattan Institute's John Daley has previously said the proposal would help first-home buyers save for a deposit, but would mean worse affordability for buyers overall.

Speculation the Government may be looking at super reform has concerned some industry executives who believe it may undermine public confidence in the system.

"Withdrawing superannuation savings to buy a house — especially when house prices appear to be at the high end of the cycle in the major states — will not help first home buyers into the market," said Financial Services Council chief executive Sally Loane last month.