Urban Development Institute of Australia applauds the Government’s announcement today of an annual 50,000 allocation under its expanded Home Guarantee Scheme and Regional Home Guarantee, but to ensure its success the initiative needs to be linked to housing supply boosting measures to help Australians buy a home. “This huge expansion of the Government’s Home Guarantee Scheme will be vital for helping combat the housing crisis, substantially reducing the deposit hurdle and allowing more Australians to buy a new home sooner.“ said Max Shifman, UDIA National President. “We are pleased that Government has listened to the UDIA’s calls to expand the already successful Home Guarantee scheme and make it a permanent fixture of the annual budget. This policy will stimulate demand and must also be supported by actions that boost supply pipelines across the entire housing spectrum, preparing for expected population growth by clearing away inefficient barriers to dwelling delivery” he said. “It’s also fantastic to see bi-partisan support for the scheme in regional areas where the house price issues have become so acute with the allocation of 10,000 places per year for the Regional Home Guarantee. The Home Guarantee Scheme is a critical initiative that provides genuine support for Australians across cities, towns and regions, that are struggling under the weight of increased demand,” said Shifman. “The full success of the scheme will rely on streamlining planning approvals and delivering enabling infrastructure – water, sewer, power and roads – to ensure new housing can be constructed. Without sufficient development ready land, this fantastic initiative will fall short without enough new housing to buy or build. In regional areas the root cause is the lack of zoned and developable land, not a lack of vacant space.” “UDIA’s State of the Land 2022 forecasts sales of new lots could plummet as much as 43% this year but will be sold at increasing prices, because the declining sales is caused by a lack of supply, not a lack of demand,” he said. “Unless we boost supply immediately, the looming affordability crisis will be overwhelming – particularly for first homeowners, but also affordable rentals and vulnerable Australians relying on subsidised housing,” Mr Shifman added. “The measures outlined in UDIA’s 2022 Federal Election campaign platform A Plan for Prosperity, released last week, are necessary to ensure ideas like the Home Guarantee Scheme and other support measures like this have the best chance of success,” said Shifman. NHFIC data shows it can take up to six years for new supply to reach the market, and this problem will only continue to grow if significant reforms are not implemented now. “We warmly welcome this vital initiative and look forward to working with all political leaders to solve the affordability challenge across the housing spectrum,” added Max Shifman.
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