The stark reality is that we are not supplying enough homes for a growing Australia.
Our collective housing approach has been a multi-decade failure.
Poor planning and inadequate policy decisions, along with high government taxes (which make up about a third of the cost of new dwellings) have continued to raise the cost of constructing every new home.
Whether to buy, to rent or utilise social housing, those delivering new homes across the nation are familiar with a loose system of buck-passing and fudging around the missed housing targets between different levels of government. And that all before we welcome back sorely needed skilled migrants and students, who will add pressure to a housing supply pipeline that’s way behind.
There is a silver lining however. The understanding of the causes of our housing deficit is now mainstream.
Research commissioned by the Property Council, of 1,500 Australians, showed 81 per cent agree that there is a lack of supply of housing that is affordable in their area.
44 per cent say lack of planning has failed to keep up with population growth, and that is the main reason for lack of affordability. These insights are consistent across age, states, location, owners, renters and backgrounds.
To meet the demand of our growing communities, all three levels of government must coordinate and incentivise the creation of new housing, and more types of housing, to give Australians greater choice in finding housing that best suits their stage of life.
At an event with Housing Minister Julie Collins today at Parliament House, we will unveil the first in a series of papers on housing affordability, presenting new research and advancing the Property Council’s thought leadership agenda.
The Minister’s presence at our event is a positive sign in itself. The Australian Government is taking a front foot approach through its National Housing Accord and the work of the independent National Housing Supply and Affordability Council.
Our paper, A stark reality: Part one in a thought leadership series on housing choice and affordability for a growing Australia maps the housing situation in the country, chronicles buyer hurdles, provides new insight into what Australians think and maps a reform landscape with potential solutions.
I commend the paper to you.
It shows us that, if nothing else, we must work together to close the deficit.
