The Albanese government’s plan to build 1.2 million homes over five years, staring 1 July 2024, is already dead in the water.
The most recent data on dwelling approvals, loans for the building or purchase of new dwellings, and new home sales have all plummeted, implying that Australia will build fewer homes rather than more in coming years.
This decline in construction will occur at a time when Australia’s population is growing at a historic rate, courtesy of the Albanese government’s unprecedented immigration program:
As a result, the country is facing an increasing housing shortage, which will drive up rents and force even more Australians into group housing or homelessness.
On Thursday, the Housing Industry Association (HIA) highlighted another pitfall with Labor’s 1.2 million housing plan: Australia is running desperately short of tradies:
“The shortage of skilled trades people remained acute in the September quarter of 2023 despite the return of skilled migration and a slowing in home building activity”, said HIA Senior Economist Tom Devitt.
“Builders found it increasingly difficult to find sufficient skilled trades people to undertake building works”.
“Australia’s home building sector continues to be constrained by some of the most acute shortages of skilled tradespeople on record”.
“Australia is expected to have its weakest year in over a decade in terms of the volume of new houses commencing construction in 2024”, warned Devitt.
With such a high rate of building company failures, skyrocketing costs for building supplies and financing, and a persistent scarcity of tradies and builders, how can the Albanese government possibly hope to meet its 1.2 million housing target?
The Albanese government has set a five-year housing target of 240,000 new dwellings per year.
Only in the nation’s history has Australia constructed more than 220,000 dwellings in a single year (i.e. 223,000 in 2017):
This level of construction was accomplished at a time when access to labour was relatively plentiful and both materials and financing costs were significantly lower.
Let’s get real: cutting net overseas migration is the only genuine solution to Australia’s housing shortage:
The rate of net overseas migration must be lowered to a level that is consistent with the nation’s ability to supply housing and infrastructure, as well as the ecological carrying capacity of the land.
Otherwise, Australia’s housing crisis will continue to worsen and living standards will collapse.
