Nat Barr hits Albo with a brutal reality check about his key election promise to solve Australia's housing crisis
Sunrise host Nat Barr has called out Prime Minister Anthony Albanese over his promise to build 1.
Sunrise host Nat Barr has called out Prime Minister Anthony Albanese over his promise to build 1.2million new homes for Australians by mid-2029.
Labors National Housing Accord guaranteed the homes would be built from July 2024 to June 2029 in an effort to ease the housing crisis, however, the target is looking increasingly unlikely to be met.
To reach the 1.2million figure, it would require an average of 20,000 new homes to be built a month over the five year period, with every month so far falling significantly short.
Local council and state government planning and building approvals provide an indication of the construction pipeline for the year ahead.
Australia hasnt approved more than 20,000 new homes in a single month since 2021, just 16,606 new homes were approved in February.
Mr Albanese has said he would seek a third term at the 2028 election if he was voted back into the top job in May.
Were working each and every day with our positive agenda for building Australias future, strengthening Medicare, protecting free TAFE, making sure that people have a home to live in, he said on Sunrise on Tuesday.
Well lets talk about housing, Barr fired back. Your current plan is to build 1.2million homes by 2029. Have you ever met that monthly target of 20,000 homes?
Sunrise host Nat Barr questioned why Mr Albanese and his government were not meeting the monthly targets required to keep his promise of building 1.2million new homes for Aussies
Labors National Housing Accord promised 20,000 homes a month being built, on average, over five years. But in February, just 16,606 new homes were approved (pictured is a Melbourne house under construction)
Mr Albanese said his intention was that building approvals and construction would ramp up as it drew closer to 2029.
What were doing, of course, is it builds up. There was delay in our legislation, but we know for example, our Housing Australia Future Fund has 28,000 homes that are either under construction or in planning.
Weve had more than 400,000 dwellings completed since we came to office.
Building approvals were 26 per cent up in the latest monthly figures in February this year, compared with February last year.
Housing construction costs are up 1.6 per cent compared to up 17 per cent that it was when we came to office.
So were very confident were working with state and territory governments.
Barr pointed out that, despite the impressive figures, she wasnt convinced Mr Albanese could keep his promise considering the shortfall.
Weve got a comprehensive plan for homes for Australia. Social housing, private rentals through our build to rent scheme, or our help to buy scheme, Mr Albanese said.
Construction industry experts and economists said there was more the government could do to streamline the process of getting new houses built and into the market (stock image)
What weve done is provide the incentive to state and territory governments to make sure those approvals happen, to make sure homes and units get built, because theres a financial incentive for them to achieve their targets.
Despite the PMs assurances, industry experts are also skeptical that the target will be reached.
Westpac economist Neha Sharma said the uptick in building approvals was not guaranteed to remain consistent.
Overall, a clear uptrend in approvals is in place. However fluctuations in high-rise approvals can disrupt the momentum.
Without a sustained increase in house and low-mid rise units, the uptrend could quickly veer off course.
Policy executive at the Property Council of Australia, Matthew Kandelaars, said the gap was increasing with each month.
The supply deficit is driving Australias housing affordability crisis. We cant afford to slip any further behind.
We need to stop the affordability-killing taxes and streamline planning approvals.
Well be kicking into the wind at the final break, making the job near impossible.
Housing Industry Association (HIA) senior economist Tom Devitt agreed that government policy made hitting the monthly milestones difficult.
Its the main factor behind the current shortfall in housing construction, Mr Devitt said.
For a long time now, government decisions have inflated the costs and complexities of home building.
According to Mr Devitt, reforms are needed to unlock land supply, reduce taxes on new housing, and to cut the red, white and green tape that drives up housing costs.
He added the government could also do more to get land shovel ready faster, particularly in regional areas.