THE federal government has fast tracked the second round of funding for the Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF) to deliver up to 5,000 desperately needed new social homes.
Round 2 of the fund will be open only to state territory government submissions, enabling governments to work with community housing providers (CHPs) on the future projects.
The move has been welcomed by industry bodies and CHPs alike, as Australia’s housing crisis continues and the social housing waitlist remains elevated.
“This initiative will add more urgently needed social housing stock and bring critical momentum to housing supply efforts across the country, unlocking significant new investment and creating thousands of construction jobs,” said Matthew Kandelaars, group executive of policy and advocacy at the Property Council of Australia.
“We welcome the focus on additional housing stock, partnerships with community housing providers, and a ‘use it or lose it’ approach to ensure timely delivery.”
Back in September, the Albanese government approved grants for more than 13,700 social and affordable homes across the country, marking the first deliveries of the $10 billion HAFF.
Following Round 1, which targeted new housing for over 25,000 Australians, the announcement will unlock $3 billion investment.
“With Rounds 1 and 2 set to deliver nearly 19,000 social and affordable homes, we’re seeing real momentum in addressing Australia’s housing shortfall. The key now is to maintain and build upon this progress through sustained, coordinated action across all levels of government,” said Rebecca Oelkers, vice chair at the Community Housing Industry Association (CHIA).
“The community housing sector stands ready to work with government partners to ensure these much-needed homes are delivered as quickly as possible to the Australians who need them most.”
Round 3 of HAFF is also being expedited and is set to launch in mid-2025 and will be open again to CHPs.
“Community housing providers are ready to build on the strong results of the first round of the Housing Australia Future Fund and build tens of thousands more homes,” said Alex Raphael, director of policy and strategy at PowerHousing Australia.
“A fair housing system where everyone has access to a secure home is only possible with abundant social and affordable housing and the Housing Australia Future Fund is making great strides in creating the pipeline of houses we need.”
HAFF and the National Housing Accord Facility (NHAF) are running concurrently with national cabinet’s National Housing Accord, which is aiming to turbocharge supply amid a national housing crisis with the delivery of 1.2 million market. Competition for labour and materials has cast heavy doubts over the construction sector’s capacity to deliver the targets.
Meanwhile the number of people waiting in line for housing is still growing, with July figures from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, revealing the proportion of households living in social housing has dropped to 4.1% in 2023 from 4.7% in 2013.
While as at June 2023, there were around 446,000 social housing dwellings in Australia, up from 443,000 in 2022.
