The Australian building and construction industry has hailed the government’s collaboration to pass its housing supply bill, but critics say it will do very little to boost housing supply.
Australia’s National Housing Accord has set the target of 1.2 million new, well-located homes across Australia in the next five years to fight the nation’s housing crisis.
The Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF) will provide a $10 billion investment arsenal to reach this goal, to create 30,000 new social and affordable dwellings in its first five years.
The funding will address areas of highest need with additional strategic allocation for domestic violence crisis victims, indigenous communities, veterans and frontline workers.
It will set aside $200 million to improve housing in remote Indigenous communities, $100 million for crisis housing options for women and children impacted by domestic violence and $30 million to build housing for at-risk veterans.
Master Builders Australia CEO Denita Wawn said the funding was vital in solving Australia’s housing crisis puzzle, which would help new housing projects get off the ground by encouraging investment into the sector.
“Whether it is social and community housing, rental properties, or owner-occupiers, the common constraint is supply,” she said.
“We know the biggest handbrake on housing supply is making it easier for new projects to get the green light by kickstarting private investment and reducing development costs and delays,” she said.
However, not everyone is optimistic about HAFF’s crisis-solving potential, with RMIT University academic Liam Davies claiming the proposal wouldn’t come close to solving Australia’s social housing problem.
The housing and urban planning lecturer, an expert in social housing, said there was more to HAFF than meets the eye, with the fund’s practicality more a form of damage limitation rather than truly aiding social housing supply.
“The HAFF is a $10 billion fund which will spend its interest earnings on social housing. It is like a term deposit for social housing, where the money will not actually be spent, just the investment earnings,” he said.
Mr Davies explained that a gradual shrinking of Australia’s social housing market meant there are 69,000 fewer social housing properties than a decade ago.
This means that despite the fund promising 6,000 new social housing dwellings per year, Aussies would be left with a net loss of 9,000 social housing dwellings per year compared to 2013.
“To get social housing stock back to 2011 levels, we need around 124,000 social housing dwellings over the next five years…this is over four times what the HAFF is promising,” he said.
“Evidently, the HAFF will not get us close to where we need to be. At best, the HAFF will slow the decline of social housing in Australia.”
Despite these reservations, Australia’s housing and homelessness organisations have welcomed the legislation, which will also establish advisory bodies to oversee area-targeted planning and delivery of new housing.
Community Housing Industry Association CEO Wendy Hayhurst said the legislation will expand the supply of housing options for low and modest-income individuals.
“This is the first step to easing the housing crisis,” she said.
Homelessness Australia CEO Kate Colvin said the homes delivered through HAFF would make a huge difference.
“The homes delivered through the HAFF will each make an enormous difference to people who would otherwise be homeless,” she said.
“It’s welcome to see that increased resources have been added to the amount of social and affordable homes to be built, as the number of people in desperate need of affordable housing continues to increase.”
Rob Macfarlane, CEO of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Housing Association (NATSIHA), highlighted the funding’s importance in addressing unmet housing needs within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, urging ongoing assistance to ensure that First Nation Australians are adequately housed.
“For decades, the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals have been overlooked,” he said.
“NATSIHA views these fresh resources as a crucial initial step in tackling the long-standing issue of unmet housing needs within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.”
