Industry leaders rule government’s $2bn social housing package good but not good enough

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese unveiled the $2 billion Social Housing Accelerator on Saturday, 17 June, which will aim to deliver thousands of new social homes across the nation. The funding will be broken down by state as follows:

- NSW - $610 million

- Victoria - $496 million

- Queensland - $398 million

- Western Australia - $209 million

- South Australia - $135 million

- Tasmania, Northern Territory, and the ACT - $50 million each

Each state and territory will receive their Social Housing Accelerator payment within the next fortnight, with funding required to be committed by 30 June 2025.

There will be no generalised remit for how the funding must be utilised, with each state and territory afforded flexibility in how they opt to permanently boost their social housing stock, whether that be through new builds, expanding existing programs, or renovating or refurbishing existing, uninhabitable stock.

Alongside the investment, premiers and chief ministers will be tasked with ensuring better planning, zoning, and land release will occur to support the program.

In introducing the funding, Mr Albanese declared “every Australian deserves the security of a roof over their head, and my government is taking steps to deliver more homes around the country”.

He defined the Social Housing Accelerator program as “new money, right now, for thousands of new homes”, adding his belief the scheme “complements our ambitious housing agenda”.

Many believe the $2 billion package was enacted as a softener to incite the Greens’ support to key legislation, including the Housing Australia Future Fund Bill 2023, National Housing Supply and Affordability Council Bill 2023, and the Treasury Laws Amendment (Housing Measures No.1) Bill 2023, with voting on all four knocked back to October.

Ms Collins levelled criticism towards the staunch opponents of the legislation, stating: “We could do even more if the Senate stopped blocking our $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund -— the single biggest investment in social and affordable rental housing by a federal government in more than a decade.”

Acknowledging supply as the stubborn obstacle plaguing Australia’s housing climate, federal minister for housing and homelessness Julie Collins maintains, “this funding will help build more of the rental homes that Australia needs”.

Many of Australia’s major property players welcomed the injection of funding into the national housing market. Among them was Quentin Kilian, chief executive officer of the Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV), who celebrated the federal government’s decision.

“We applaud the federal government in acknowledging the urgent need for increased social housing nationwide, [especially] as so many struggle to afford or access housing in the current market,” he said.

He called on the Andrews government to effectively implement the funding across the state, which is fighting a losing battle against simultaneous housing and rental crises

“We hope to see the state government utilise these funds urgently, while exploring other ways to incentivise investors back into the rental property market, further reducing pressure on the market,” he added.

Mr Kilian’s sentiments were shared right across the board, with Cath Hart, chief executive officer at the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia (REIWA); Dean Milton, chief operating officer at the Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ); and Tim McKibbin, chief executive officer at the Real Estate Institute of NSW (REINSW), all expressing support for the scheme.

Ms Hart noted the funding “will not solve the supply issue overnight, it is a step in the right direction and will put a roof over the heads of the most vulnerable Western Australians”.

Mr Milton accepted the investment with open arms, especially given Queensland “has the lowest per capita spend of any state in relation to social housing”, however, he was dubious about whether the scheme would be effectively implemented across the Sunshine State.

“Whilst the funding is welcome, doubts remain over the ability of the state government and local councils to deliver and spend the money timely and efficiently,” he said.

For Mr McKibbin, who’s institute caters to the property needs of Australia’s most populated state and recipient of the most federal government funding from this program, the cash injection is welcome, even if it fails to completely hit the mark.

“Anything we can get in this space, particularly in social and affordable housing, is terrific!” he said. “But it doesn’t go anywhere near what is required.”

Having crunched some numbers following the news announcement, Mr McKibbin believes the package will deliver 5,714 properties across the country — calculated at an average build cost of $350,000.

It’s a volume of properties that would fail to satisfy NSW’s needs, let alone the wider nation, and that’s even before considering the amount of time between now and beneficiaries of the program sorting a roof over their head.

While he welcomes any funding injections from the government, he believes more initiative needs to be seen from the property industry.

He criticised the “delays and politics that goes on in the DA process quite regularly”, as a significant headwind to Australian housing stock increasing to its necessary volume, especially considering in some pockets of NSW it takes longer to receive DA approval than to construct a property.

Moving forward, the REINSW CEO believes curing Australia’s property market lies outside of targeting one single avenue for repair and instead shifting towards enacting a “variety of things that will certainly assist”.