The announcement of the 2024-2025 Federal Budget was met with great anticipation. It is a budget that seeks to strike “a balance between controlling inflation, easing cost of living pressure, supporting sustainable growth and building fiscal buffers in an uncertain global environment”, however there was a missed opportunity to truly address the social and affordable housing shortage currently evident.
PowerHousing Australia commends the Government on initiatives to ease the cost of living for Australians doing it tough and for recognising the need to build more homes for Australians but the scale of the investment needs to match the scale of the crisis that is a result of decades of neglect.
We welcome the Treasurer and Federal Government’s $6.2 billion commitment to increasing housing supply through increasing the liability cap to $10 billion for the Affordable Housing Bond Aggregator, $1.9 billion in concession loans to community housing providers (CHPs), a $2 million investment to help build the financial capability of CHPs & Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community controlled housing organisations, $1 billion targeting support to crisis and transitional accommodation for women and children fleeing family and domestic violence (FDV) and youth, and a $423.1 million commitment under a new National Agreement on Social Housing and Homelessness to support social housing and homelessness services delivered by states and territories.
It’s important to note however that Budget Measures relating to housing are only addressing the tip of the iceberg.
PowerHousing CEO Michelle Gegenhuber said “While we welcome the recognition that more homes need to built to help address the current housing crisis, we do have some concerns that as outlined in the Budget Papers released last night, social housing is at its lowest level in 3 decades. This is at a time when more and more Australians could benefit from access to social housing.”
AHURI research estimated that there will be a 727,300 dwellings deficit in social housing by 2036.
The National Housing Supply and Affordability Council’s State of the Housing System Report 2024, recognises social and affordable housing as ‘essential infrastructure’ which enhances economic productivity, labour market participation and cohesive communities, while reducing homelessness and poverty.
“Social housing is often a forgotten yet essential component of the housing continuum.”
“The 2024-25 budget is a step in the right direction, however a lot more needs to be done to create impactful change to housing access.”
For further detail contact:
Michelle Gegenhuber, Chief Executive Officer, PowerHousing Australia – 0447 069 812