HOMES ACCORD BUILDS HOPE AMID NATIONAL ‘HOUSING CRISIS’
THE Albanese government will strive to deliver an extra one million homes across the country under a new Housing Accord struck with the states, councils, investors and the construction industry.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers unveiled the Accord on Tuesday night, as he acknowledged the country was in a “housing crisis”.
The Accord will set an “aspirational” target of delivering one million new and “well-located homes” over five years – but the pledge won’t kick in until 2024.
State and territory governments will also be called upon under the Accord to fast-track zoning, planning, and land releases, including looking for ways to immediately free up land supply.
Mr Chalmers said most of the housing supply would come from the private market, but said the federal government would commit $350m for an additional 10,000 affordable homes.
“This will be delivered through an ongoing funding stream to help cover the gap between market rents and subsidised rents – making more projects commercially viable,” he said.
“State and territory governments will build on our commitment with up to 10,000 new homes as well – that’s up to 20,000 new affordable homes in total. Along with local governments, they will tackle supply problems caused by land release and zoning policies.”
The federal government’s new $350m housing commitment will kick off in 2024-25, when an initial $70m will be spent followed by another $70m the year after.
“Institutional investors, including superannuation funds, have endorsed the Accord and will work with us to leverage more investment that delivers for their investors’ and members’ interests, and for the national interest,” Mr Chalmers told the parliament.
“We don’t pretend that this Accord solves every issue, nor do we pretend we can solve this problem overnight. But this is a serious start …”
The federal government will also invest $10bn into its Housing Australia Future Fund – using the returns from the fund to pay for 30,000 new social and affordable homes.
In the first five years, $200m in returns will be put towards housing improvements in remote Indigenous communities, while $100m will be spent on crisis housing options for women and children fleeing domestic violence.