The Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA) National congratulates Government on the 2022-2023 October Budget’s ambitious housing plan, which reaffirms critical initiatives to tackle the housing supply and affordability crisis.
The Treasurer announced a scheme to build one million homes over the next 5 years starting from 2024. The plan intends to bring the Federal, State and Local Governments and the private sector to increase housing supply with a focus on new affordable homes. The scheme hopes to maintain an annual delivery of 200,000 houses a year against a background of declining supply. Critically, this plan is backed up by a National Housing Accord which supports measures to drive change in planning regulations, speed up the release of land supply and ensure private investment in long-term housing.
The government’s housing initiative picks up on key UDIA National recommendations to Government in the Productivity Commission’s Review of the National Housing and Homelessness Agreement, and our 2022 National Policy Platform – Resilience, Recovery, Reform.
“The UDIA is pleased to see the Federal Government plan to work with industry to help solving some of the underlying housing supply and productivity issues, create incentives for all levels of Government to improve planning systems and harnessing industry capacity to help build new affordable dwellings.’’, said Max Shifman, UDIA National President.
“The Government’s new strategy for improving housing delivery has a good chance of moving the dial further than before,” he said.
“The plan would be impossible to achieve without the cooperation of State, Territory and Local Governments as so much of the vital supply boosting reforms, like streamlining planning systems, need their input and support. Equally, without private development and investment, we simply cannot close the affordability and housing gap”, he said.
The National Housing Financial Investment Corporation (NHFIC), Review in 2021, revealed that Australia needs 45,000 affordable and social houses each year to maintain the existing huge shortfalls in housing. Unfortunately, AHURI research shows that we are only building about 3,000 (net) new Affordable and Social Houses each year.
UDIA National’s research also shows that Government and Community Housing Providers (CHPs) currently only have total capacity to deliver on average about 8,500 social and affordable dwellings (gross) a year. Government and CHPs alone cannot provide enough affordable housing without enlisting the help of the broader development sector.
“Any housing plan needs to meet the needs of the private market and the affordable and social end of the spectrum to ensure there is enough housing for all Australians. This means harnessing the private development market and investors and creating incentives for participation and create productivity gains that build from their capability and capital, to stretch government funds further,” he said.
“The October Federal Budget was always going to be a recalibration based on economic realities, but it has also provided a platform for stripping away barriers to delivering new homes for current and future Australians,” said Max Shifman, UDIA National President.
“Now the real work starts to develop the incentives, metrics and targets that will boost delivery of development ready land, expand private development and investment and coordinate housing delivery across Governments,” he said.
“UDIA National looks forward to working with Government in the Housing Supply and Affordability Council to fast-track initiatives that boost land and housing supply and accelerate delivery of at-market and affordable housing, so we can get on with the job of tackling housing affordability,” said Mr Shifman.
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Media Enquiries:
Andrew Mihno 0406454549 or amihno@udia.com.au