THE PRACTITIONER'S COMPANION
Tuesday 11 February 2025

Housing Accord target already behind by 15,000 homes

While 60,000 new homes are needed every quarter, only 44,884 homes were built across Australia in the three months after the Accord kicked off.

2 min read

AUSTRALIA is already over 15,000 homes behind just three months into the 1.2 million homes target for 2029.

Seasonally adjusted numbers released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows the National Housing Accord target is well wide of the mark.

While 60,000 new homes are needed every quarter, only 44,884 homes were built across Australia in the first three months since the Accord kicked off.

Northern Territory is trailing the most, delivering 78.6 per cent fewer homes than needed for its target of 571 per quarter. Victoria is falling 0.1 per cent below its quarterly target of 15,316.

The September quarter numbers are down 0.9 per cent from the June quarter, which immediately preceded the Housing Accord period.

Property Council Group Executive Policy and Advocacy Matthew Kandelaars said: “If we don’t start as we intend to finish, we’ll be kicking into a gale at the final break – making the job near impossible.

“There’s no time to waste and we can’t afford to slip any further behind.

 “Our new home target is much more than an arbitrary number. It is what’s needed to close the national housing supply shortage. It represents hard hats, steel caps and getting Australian families into the homes they deserve.

“The work of the next term of the Federal parliament needs a laser-focus on helping states and territories do the heavy lifting required to meet our target.

“It’s evident from today’s data that some states are far better placed than others but all need a serious and immediate kick into action.

“The most urgent priorities are for states and territories to address affordability-killing taxes on new homes, cut red tape to boost productivity and address critical shortages of skilled labour.”

Master Builders Australia CEO Denita Wawn says there is still a long way to go to reach the level of output required to meet the Housing Accord target of 1.2 million homes.

Over the year to September 2024, the number of new homes commencing construction reached 165,048, well below the 200,000 required.

Denita Wawn

If building activity continues at this pace, Australia will commence construction on just over 825,000 new homes over the next five years – around 350,000 new homes short of the Housing Accord target.

“Our performance in apartment construction will be the key to whether we meet the target. Apartment construction levels remain too low because the investment appetite is not there.

“Low productivity, labour shortages, costly and restrictive CFMEU pattern agreements, a lack of supporting infrastructure and a high inflationary environment all contribute to project costs not stacking up.

 “If we are going to solve the housing crisis, we need to build more apartments and make them more attractive for people to invest in – only then will we see a lowering of rental inflation and more homes for Aussies.” 

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