It’s the greatest crisis confronting the country – now Peter Dutton plans to fix it. The only catch? It will cost taxpayers $5billion

Peter Dutton will pledge to spend $5 billion to solve Australia’s housing crisis in a major infrastructure overhaul that could speed up the construction of 500,000 new homes.

The opposition leader will announce his Saturday Housing Infrastructure Program.

‘Use it or lose it’ funding will help councils speed up the delivery of water, energy, sewage and access roads through grants and concessional loans.

Approved projects will need to start moving forward within 12 months of the contract date, or funding will be cancelled, and the Coalition says detached homes with backyards are the “cheapest form of housing for first-home buyers “.

“We know there are hundreds of new sites across the country ready for development, but progress has stalled due to a lack of funding for essential enabling infrastructure,” a statement announcing the policy said.

“Our focus is on investing in infrastructure to unlock the supply of new shovel-ready housing developments.”

The claim is likely to be contested by state governments, with New South Wales Premier Chris Minns repeatedly pointing out that Sydney cannot support more housing on its western fringe due to the costs associated with ensuring adequate infrastructure around the sites. .

Instead, the state government has set housing targets for councils and changed zoning laws to encourage medium- and high-density development in well-located areas known as transit-oriented development areas.

However, the Coalition is expected to point to research from the Center for International Economics conducted in August 2024 that states the sales cost of a Greenfield home is $790,000, compared to $905,000 for a mid-rise apartment and $860,000 for a high rise apartment. .

The Housing Infrastructure Program will help local governments connect new sites to critical infrastructure such as sewer, water and electricity.

The research said this was due to rising delivery costs for infill apartments, which rose by more than 6 per cent between 2018 and 2023 for four- to nine-storey apartments.

On Saturday, Dutton will also announce a 10-year freeze on the implementation of new changes to the National Building Code, which he says have added costly compliance burdens to new housing projects, with the costs then passed on to consumers.

Earlier this week, Housing spokesperson Michael Sukkar announced the Coalition would scrap Labour’s target of 1.2 million homes if elected, accusing him of lying to Australians.

Speaking to the ABC, Sukkar said there was “no way” the government would meet its target, with Master Builders Australia estimating current rates for new home construction would result in a shortfall of 166,000 homes.