A lack of housing has increased house and rental costs. Australia now needs around 190,000 new houses each year to meet its housing needs, but only 150,000 are being built. The Government is introducing a coordinated approach to reduce barriers to the supply of new housing.
Boosting housing supply
The Government understands that more houses are needed to improve housing affordability in the long term.
To help achieve this, the Government has created the Housing Affordability Fund. It will provide $500 million to local and State governments to:
- speed up development approval processes
- provide infrastructure for new housing.
The funding is being targeted so that savings are passed on to new home buyers.
The Government will also be releasing extra land, with the aim of boosting housing numbers, improving the quality of surrounding suburbs and creating new jobs.
Addressing the seriousness of the housing problem is a priority for the Government. It now has a Housing Minister dedicated to the issue and is working in partnership with State and Territory governments to put better housing policies in place. The Government is also setting up a National Housing Supply Council to examine the adequacy of housing supply over the next 20 years.
Housing supply has not kept pace with demand
The Government is taking steps to ensure that more houses are built to improve housing affordability in the long term.