The Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA) applauds the Housing Australia’s announcement that Round 3 of the Housing Australia Future Fund Facility and National Housing Accord Facility will unlock funding for 21,350 new social and affordable homes.
UDIA says that this is a significant step forward in tackling Australia’s housing shortage and ensuring more Australians have access to safe, affordable, well-located homes, contributing to the national target of 40,000 homes.
“This announcement is exactly the kind of signal the country needs,” said Oscar Stanley, UDIA National President.
“The streamlined application process and stronger collaboration announced by Housing Australia will help accelerate delivery, reduce duplication and enable industry to bring forward projects ready to proceed.”
Mr Stanley said supporting greenfield housing is an effective way to drive faster, more scalable housing and delivers the most affordable dwellings per dollar invested.
UDIA encourages Government to continue to progress other important housing policies such as the 100,000 homes for First Home Buyers as less than 5% of the National Housing Accord’s 1.2 million home target is expected to be delivered through the HAFF.
“This reinforces the urgent need for broader system reform, particularly around land supply, planning approvals and enabling infrastructure. If Australia is to meet the scale of housing demand now facing the nation,” Mr Stanley said.
“We are in a construction cost crisis, and the most effective way to get social and affordable homes delivered is to partner with the development industry and prioritise greenfield supply.”
“It ensures faster commencements, predictable delivery timelines and materially lower cost-per-dwelling outcomes compared with higher construction cost housing typologies.”
“With the right initiatives to knock down barriers to housing development, our members can supply well-located, serviced greenfield land that delivers social and affordable housing at speed and scale.
UDIA encourages the Commonwealth to continue its work with states and territories to:
- remove barriers to land supply, including resolving planning bottlenecks, assessment delays and environmental approval backlogs; and
- fund enabling infrastructure such as arterial roads, services, drainage and community facilities that unlock greenfield precincts
“These steps are critical to meeting the scale of national housing need and ensuring the HAFF is leveraged as effectively as possible,” Mr Stanley said.
“With this announcement and a continued focus on systemic enablers, UDIA is confident that industry can deliver well-designed, affordable homes in communities that offer access to jobs, services and opportunity.”