The Albanian government will unveil an $11.3 billion housing package, designed primarily to boost the supply of social and affordable housing, as the centerpiece of its May 14 budget.
In a tacit admission that its effort to alleviate Australia’s acute housing crisis had not been enough, Labor will inject billions of dollars of additional funds to help accelerate new supply, combat homelessness and help those fleeing domestic violence with crisis housing.
Unveiling the announcement following a National Cabinet meeting on Friday afternoon, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Labor’s ‘Homes for Australia’ plan would keep the Australian dream of home ownership within reach.
“This budget means more trade, fewer barriers to construction, less talk and more housing,” Mr Albanese said.
The Albanian government will unveil an $11.3 billion housing package, designed primarily to boost the supply of social and affordable housing, as the centerpiece of its May 14 budget.
‘It’s not about a suburb, a city or a state. “It is a challenge facing Australians everywhere and needs action from all levels of government.”
The bulk of the package will be $9.3 billion in fresh funding to establish the new five-year National Agreement on Social Housing and Homelessness, the support of which will be administered by state and territory governments.
This represents a doubling of federal funding for homelessness to $400 million a year, and states and territories will have to match the increased Commonwealth spending dollar for dollar, increasing crisis support and the supply of social housing.
Additionally, $1 billion will be allocated to transitional and crisis accommodation for families and children who feel in violent circumstances, as voters demand the Labor government play a greater role in ending family and domestic violence.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Labor’s ‘Homes for Australia’ plan would keep the Australian dream of home ownership within reach.
The commitment includes increasing the proportion of grants for this investment to $700 million, up from $175 million previously, to manage accommodation services.
States and territories will also benefit from another $1 billion for roads, energy and other enabling infrastructure to support the construction of new homes.
Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the significant investment, which will be outlined in full next Tuesday evening, would help support the construction of new homes.
“We are putting billions of dollars more into the budget to build more homes across the country because we know that to address this housing challenge we need to increase supply,” Dr Chalmers said.
New regulatory requirements will also be imposed on the tertiary education sector, requiring universities to increase their accommodation offering for domestic and international students.
“We need more purpose-built housing to support higher education students and that is what these reforms, developed in consultation with the sector, will help drive,” Education Minister Jason Clare said.
States and territories will also benefit from an additional $1 billion for roads, energy and other enabling infrastructure to support the construction of new homes.
Amid rising rents, rock-bottom vacancy rates and rising home prices, driven in part by weak home construction activity and a skyrocketing increase in international arrivals, it has fueled consumer discontent. voters and has increased demands for governments to address the cost and availability of housing.
Indeed, the government’s own ‘State of the Housing System’ report, published earlier this month, laid bare the challenges Labor faces in meeting its own targets under the National Housing Deal.
To meet the objectives set out in the agreement, 1.2 million well-located homes will need to be built in the five years to 2029, requiring an average annual home completion of 240,000.
But in its report, the National Housing Supply and Affordability Council concluded that the government would not reach its goal, falling 40,000 homes short of the final goal.
By the latest measures, building approvals, a leading indicator of Australia’s residential construction pipeline, fell to just 162,649 in the year to March 2024, about 77,000 short of the level required to meet the target.