HIA urges government to build more affordable homes

The National Housing Accord will see 1.2 million homes constructed across the country over five years from 1 July 2024.

Included in these 1.2 million homes are affordable options. In fact, according to the Treasury, the number of these homes built in each state will be:

• NSW (3,100)
• Victoria (2,546)
• Queensland (2,049)
• Western Australia (1,076)
• South Australia (700)
• Tasmania (220)
• ACT (175)
• Northern Territory (96)

This is a total of 9,962 affordable homes across Australia, just 0.83 per cent of the total 1.2 million promised. While state and territory governments have agreed to extend this commitment and build an additional 10,000 affordable homes, this is still an insignificant portion.

HIA managing director Jocelyn Martin commented on the disparity, saying that affordable housing is crucial for people looking to enter the property market.

“Social and affordable housing plays a key role in supporting those who are unable to get into home ownership, and we are supportive of boosting its supply across the country,” said Martin.

“However, social and affordable housing only make up a small part of the big picture that is housing in Australia. The majority of the government’s 1.2 million homes target will need to be homes for the private market. This is crucial to bring house prices and rentals down.

“All areas of housing need to be focused on and government policies cannot just focus on social housing and leave out free market housing, it is critical the balance is right if the government is to succeed in its long-term vision.”

Now, HIA is calling upon the newly appointed Minister for Housing Clare O’Neil to work to help fix the limited supply of affordable housing.

“The more new homes we build the more social housing is freed up for those who really need it, and the more likely it is that ordinary Australians have a chance to buy a house at an affordable price,” said Martin.

“Now is the time to show strong leadership on housing. Minister Clare O’Neil together with the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese must reset the housing policy agenda to focus on increasing housing supply across all areas of housing.

“The current agenda is too narrow and does not sufficiently go to the heart of the problem of fixing housing supply for future generations.”

[Related: Whether cheap or expensive, demand for property remains high]

Jack Campbell is the editor of Broker Daily. After graduating from the University of Wollongong in 2022, Jack began his journalistic career working on Broker Daily’s sister brand, HR Leader. In August 2023 he was made the news editor and worked alongside some talented journalists writing articles and recording podcasts.

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