Australia is over 15,000 homes behind the 1.2 million homes by 2029 target just three months in. The data has been seasonally adjusted and released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
To meet the National Housing Accord’s 2029 target, 60,000 new homes are needed every quarter. In the September quarter – the first three months since the Housing Accord kicked off on 1 July 2024 – 44,884 homes were built across Australia.
The Property Council of Australia believes that Build to Rent can, and will, play a major role in meeting this target.
Northern Territory is trailing the most, delivering 78.6% fewer homes than needed for its target of 571 per quarter. Victoria is falling 0.1% below its quarterly target of 15,316. The September quarter numbers are down 0.9% from the June quarter, which immediately preceded the Housing Accord period.
Group Executive Policy and Advocacy Matthew Kandelaars stated that with the ‘clock ticking’, Australia finds itself behind the 1.2 million homes by 2029 target just three months into the journey.
Meanwhile, the Property Council declared its support for the recently released Expression of Interest (EOI) criteria. The criteria will allow projects to be considered by the new Housing Delivery Authority (the Authority), stating that efforts to drive faster housing approvals across the state will be supported.
“Few expected we’d be meeting our welcome and ambitious housing target from day one, but it’s doing its job by providing transparency about who is lagging and by how much.
“If we don’t start as we intend to finish, we’ll be kicking into a gale at the final break – making the job near impossible. There’s no time to waste and we can’t afford to slip any further behind.
“Our new home target is much more than an arbitrary number. It is what’s needed to close the national housing supply shortage. It represents hard hats, steel caps and getting Australian families into the homes they deserve.
“The work of the next term of the Federal parliament needs a laser-focus on helping states and territories do the heavy lifting required to meet our target.
“It’s evident from [the] data that some states are far better placed than others, but all need a serious and immediate kick into action. The most urgent priorities are for states and territories to address affordability-killing taxes on new homes, cut red tape to boost productivity and address critical shortages of skilled labour.”
Matthew Kandelaars, Group Executive Policy and Advocacy, Property Council
New housing commencements are up 4.6% from the June quarter, and new apartment and townhouse commencements have risen by 3.8% in the past 12 months.
