Australia’s housing affordability challenge continues to deepen, with the time required to save for a house deposit in capital cities increasing to over 10 years. This challenge stems from insufficient housing supply. The Australian Government has responded by setting an ambitious target of 1.2 million new well-located homes by the end of FY2029, through the National Housing Accord. The target is supported by the $3 billion New Homes Bonus, designed to incentivise more housing construction.
Commissioned by the Property Council, Mandala Partners have produced this report, Smarter Incentives, More Homes, and reveals that Australia is projected to be 462,000 homes behind the 1.2 million new homes in well-located areas target by 2029. But there is good news – if housing supply speeds up to meet the target, renters across the country could see significant savings.
Key Findings
- There is a looming shortfall of nearly half a million well-located homes against Australia’s 1.2 million home target by 2029
- Bridging the gap and building the 462,000 extra homes could save renters on average $90 a week
- Across the country, over seven million renters would collectively save $255 million a week if we were to reach our housing targets
- Our economy would see $128 billion in Gross Value Added, including $45 billion direct and $83 billion indirect across the five year period to 2029
- Meet our housing targets would support 368,000 jobs every year until 2029.
These are overarching national figures but we’ve also got state and territory breakdowns of all these figures across pages 34-41 to support your local advocacy.
Key Recommendations
- Refine the New Homes Bonus by bringing forward payments and extending its duration to seven years to enable jurisdictions to undertake longer-term reforms
- Increase the total value to $6 billion to reflect the scale of the housing challenge and ringfence any unspent funding for future housing supply initiatives
- Strengthen transparency through clear public reporting on progress and establish forums to share insights between jurisdictions
- Enhance Australian Government leadership through establishing a Housing Sub-Committee of Cabinet and considering all available levers to support housing supply
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Supply time bomb ticking but renters can save $90 a week if we reach 2029 housing targets: new research
18/03/2025
New research released a week ahead of the Federal Budget reveals a looming shortfall of almost half a million homes against Australia’s housing target – but bridging the gap could save renters $90 every week, an annual saving of $4,680.
