Property developers want billions more from government to meet ambitious housing targets
The five-year countdown hasn’t started yet for the National Housing Accord’s promised 1.2 million new homes. But the property development lobby says it’s already dead without serious intervention in the upcoming federal budget.
When Treasurer Jim Chalmers unveiled the National Housing Accord in his first budget just months after taking office, the plan to build more than 1 million new homes by 2029 was hailed as a "landmark agreement".
A lot has changed in the economy and housing market since late 2022, but concern about housing affordability has arguably only worsened. And if developers and home builders are to be believed, the government's flagship housing plan to solve it could already be dead in the water, unless it spends up big in the May budget.
Tom Forrest, chief executive of The Urban Taskforce whose executive committee includes prominent property developers such as Meriton and Stockland. He is concerned the target is already off-track and needs more support in the May budget.
“The Albanese Government has taken important initial steps in addressing one of the largest and most complex challenges facing Australia – housing supply and affordability. But more is needed, or the Housing Accord targets are effectively dead,” Forrest said in the organisation’s pre-budget submission to Treasury, which he provided to Capital Brief.
