The federal budget and housing
The federal budget for 2024-25 includes several initiatives aimed at alleviating the housing crisis.
This includes $6.2 billion towards new and existing housing investments. This funding hopes to boost the supply of homes.
Here’s a breakdown of the key measures addressing housing:
Overall supply
The budget allocates $1 billion to states and territories to directly support the development of new housing. This includes funding for connecting last-mile services like water, power, sewerage and roads.
This is in addition to the $500 million committed through the Housing Support Program to enable infrastructure.
Rent relief
The Commonwealth Rent Assistance will receive an additional 10% ($1.9 billion) in support. This aims to help low-income earners afford rent in the private market.
Affordable housing
An additional $1.9 billion has been earmarked for social and affordable homes. This will be facilitated under the Housing Australia Future Fund and the National Housing Accord.
Foreign buyers
Foreign investors will be allowed to buy established Build to Rent developments with a lower foreign investment fee, as long as the property continues to be operated as a Build to Rent development.
Construction workers
The budget aims to increase the supply of skilled labour in the construction industry in an attempt to aid the supply of new homes. To this end, $88.8 million has been allocated to create 20,000 new fee-free TAFE places, specifically targeting pre-apprenticeship programs in construction-related fields.
Student accommodation
To reduce some strain on the private rental, the budget mentions improving the supply of student accommodation. The budget says, “The Government will work with the higher education sector to develop regulations requiring universities to increase their supply of student accommodation.”
Infrastructure
The budget allocates $9.5 billion for various infrastructure projects across states. This includes improving transportation networks in cities and suburbs, making them more accessible and creating areas where housing development is more viable.
Infrastructure in Western Sydney
Focusing on specific locations, the budget allocates $2 billion for future-proofing Western Sydney. This includes improving transport networks, planning roads that support future housing development in the area and enabling operations at Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport.
Budget goal
The budget aims to address both affordability and supply shortages. By investing in construction and labour, offering rent relief, encouraging development and incentivising affordable housing, the budget tackles the issues from both sides.
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