Along with our partners, NATSIHA, National Shelter and Homelessness Australia CHIA strongly welcomed the agreement between Labor, the Greens and Cross bench to pass laws that establish the $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF), the National Housing Supply and Affordability Council as an independent statutory advisory body to government and Housing Australia as the national housing agency. While it has been somewhat of a journey, CHIA acknowledges the hard work of the Greens and key cross benchers to secure additional funding and strengthen the legislation and the openness of the government to making these changes.
An additional $1 billion will also be invested in the National Housing Infrastructure Facility to support new social and affordable homes. Together with the 10,000 affordable homes that are part of the National Housing Accord and new social housing anticipated from the $2 billion social housing accelerator they are an excellent first step to easing the housing crisis and expanding the right type of housing supply, so that people on low and modest incomes have genuine housing options.
The HAFF’s success is more firmly assured by the annual $500M spend becoming a floor not a ceiling and the introduction of indexation of the annual spend from 2029. (See here if you would like a primer on the way the HAFF is likely to operate). The review of the HAFF has been brought forward by two years and will need to be completed by December 2026. It is also good news that the National Housing Supply and Affordability Council membership has been broadened to include expertise in accessibility for people with disability. It had previously been broadened (after Helen Haines MP amendment) to include expertise on regional, rural and remote housing policy.
Many amendments did not get through. Unsurprisingly, none of those requiring additional expenditure made it, including a doubling of the fund itself. More perplexing was the failure to get government agreement to reinstate a research function to Housing Australia or allow for the Council’s secretariat to be placed in Housing Australia at some point in the future. While less eye-catching both amendments would have enhanced Housing Australia and enabled it to become the rounded national housing agency we clearly need. As it stands, housing policy and strategy development remains fragmented with no body responsible for co-ordination.
The community housing sector is looking forward to starting work on developing the new homes. The time taken to pass the legislation has also been used to prepare and, there are projects ready to go.
It is heartening to see the Federal government get back into the social and affordable housing business. It is important that via the National Housing and Homelessness Plan (see article here) that we build on the current initiatives and set up an ongoing social and affordable housing program that aims to keep pace with growing needs, as well as eating into the current backlog of 640,000 homes. As well as government investment we need planning policy that recognises the benefits of a more diverse housing supply. In particular we need to get serious about a well designed inclusionary zoning policy that requires a % of social and affordable housing on all residential land. With an appropriate notice period, and well thought out transition phase it will not be an impost on developers but on the contrary will lower the price paid for land. It works elsewhere. With Planning Ministers considering possible reforms we hope this up there with other measures to streamline processes.