The 1.2 million Aussie homes plan

THE National Cabinet has agreed to an ambitious national target to build 1.2 million new well‑located homes over the five years to 2029.

This adds an extra 200,000 new homes to the original National Housing Accord one million target agreed by states and territories last year.

The Commonwealth has also pledged $3.5 billion in incentives to the states to make the necessary changes so it can happen, in order to boost housing supply and affordability.

Under the performance-based funding, states and territories that achieve more than their share of the one million home target will receive $15,000 for each home built in well-located areas, which are close to existing public transport, services and jobs.

The payments start flowing from 2028, and kick in when the housing is delivered.

The incentives also encourage local and state governments to kick-start housing supply, targeting things like essential services, amenities and planning.

In addition, the National Cabinet has agreed to a national planning reform blueprint, which will include measures like planning, zoning and land release to improve housing supply.

The blueprint will also update state and local plans to reflect housing supply targets, promote medium and high density housing in established areas close to existing services, and streamline the approvals process. 

Unveiling the plan in August last year, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the plan was ambitious, but achievable.

“(The states) know this is a necessary reform and that not enough has been done in the past to address housing supply,” he said.

While the federal government does not have control of land release, zonings and approvals, the incentives would drive the states to act faster, he said.

“There’s limits to what the Commonwealth can do. What we can do is indicate our support for those jurisdictions who are putting their shoulder to the wheel to increase housing supply and that’s precisely what we’ve done.”

NSW has pledged to deliver 377,000 new well-located homes across the state by 2029, while Victoria has a target to build 800,000 homes over the next decade. Queensland boldly plans to deliver one million new homes by 2046.

As part of efforts to get the build underway, the government is also putting up $90 million to boost the number of construction workers, including 20,000 new fee-free places.