For regional Aussies struggling to keep a roof over their heads, a new Coalition policy could lay the blueprint for fixing up the housing crisis.
Part of the Coalition’s $5 billion Housing Infrastructure Programme (HIP), the policy pledges to allocate 30 per cent of funds to help increase housing in regional Australia.
Announced at the HIA regional housing forum in Bendigo earlier this month, the plan aims to bring fresh hope to rural, regional, and remote parts of Australia currently facing severe housing shortages.
The policy is being described as a game-changer, with Housing Industry Association Chief Executive for Industry and Policy, Simon Croft, believing it could help tackle the infrastructure bottlenecks needed to drive regional growth.
“Today’s announcement to allocate 30 per cent of the proposed $5 billion to the regions is a good step in addressing the critical housing shortages facing regional Australians,” Mr Croft said.
“HIA welcomes well-targeted policies that aim to boost supply and ease housing pressures by tackling construction costs and roadblocks to delivering more homes for Australians.”
Should the Coalition be victorious at next year’s federal election, the policy will give regional centres the investment needed to remove roadblocks currently holding regional home construction back.
This will include building vital infrastructure like water, power, sewerage, and access roads, ensuring developments can move from the drawing board to reality, unlocking build-ready land and assisting councils to remove red tape and boost approval capacities.
HIA’s Simon Croft says the changes are a step in the right direction to help regional Australia fix up its housing woes before demand metrics inevitably increase.
“Unfortunately, the housing shortages being witnessed in capital cities are even worse across nearly every regional town in Australia,” Mr Croft explained.
“The number of Australians moving from cities to the regions continues to grow, and this trend is expected to increase in the coming years. Currently, 8.5 million Australians, or one-third of the population, are now living in regional Australia.”
“Practical measures such as those to unlock housing supply and get projects shovel-ready sooner are critical to ensuring the residential building industry can meet increased demand and support greater housing delivery across the country.”
The commitment will help kickstart over 500,000 housing projects nationwide in a bid to help the government achieve its ambitious Housing Accord‘s target of constructing 1.2 million new homes by the end of the decade.
Meanwhile, the policy also includes broader measures to improve housing affordability, such as reducing migration numbers, freezing foreign property investment for two years, and tackling union-driven cost increases in the construction sector.
The Coalition’s plan to kickstart home builds:
- Reducing migration numbers.
- A ban on foreign investors and temporary residents purchasing homes.
- Bringing in people on skilled visas to support local tradies.
- Tackling union corruption that has driven up building costs.
- Freezing further changes to the National Construction Code.
Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development, Senator Bridget McKenzie, reinforced the Coalition’s commitment to working with regional communities to overcome the challenges of housing affordability and supply.
“The voice of regional Australia needs to come to the fore and get a seat at the table on key decision-making processes as these communities continue to grow and expand,” she said.
Nationals leader David Littleproud echoed these views, stressing the need for targeted infrastructure investment to ease pressure on regional housing markets.
“One of the major impediments to new housing projects is the lack of funding for critical-enabling infrastructure,” Mr Littleproud said.
“The Coalition will invest in shovel-ready infrastructure through our new Housing Infrastructure Programme. An elected Coalition Government will commit $5 billion to get these projects moving, unlocking up to 500,000 homes across Australia, and we want a fair share of that funding in regional Australia.”
