Weekend Edition: Are we moving fast enough to tackle Australia’s housing crisis?
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Why is Australia’s housing market considered a crisis and how severe is it?
Escalating house prices, the rising cost of living, an aging population, and policies that have historically focused on increasing housing demand rather than supply, is it any wonder that large parts of Australia face a housing crisis, chief amongst them New South Wales? And acknowledging that, what can be done about it? The morning
call from Nab.
With Phil Dobby, the weekend edition. So there's little doubt that Australia has a housing crisis. There are just not enough houses, and that is impacting affordability. So the mean dwelling price in Australia is now close to one million dollars. In New South Wales, it's heading up to one and a quarter. That is twelve times the average salary for New South Wales. And look, we're not alone in that. Canada's got a similar story to tell. It's about twelve times. New Zealand it's worse, it's about fifteen times. But if you look in the UK, the average is about eight times the average salary. In the US it's seven times. So why this big difference? And what can be done about it? In the last budget, the federal government devoted a chapter, statement four, about addressing Australia's housing challenge.
It says the federal government, along with the states, local government, industry and investors will deliver one point two million new well-located homes in the five years to the thirtieth of june twenty twenty nine through the National Housing Accord. I do feel like this has been promised many more times uh over the last decade or so in Australia. But could this be the time that we actually fix the problem? Well, the New South Wales government has established Homes New South Wales to tackle the housing crisis. It's brought together a few different agencies all under one roof to to bring about an effective solution, we hope. Rebecca Pinkston is their first chief executive and she joins me now. So welcome, Rebecca.
Checker, two questions to start with. First of all, is it a housing crisis? Is it a crisis? And will increasing supply I mean we can do other stuff, but really is it just a question of increasing supply that we need to fix this issue?
Well, thanks for having me and um I think it is safe to say that we're in the middle of a housing crisis and um the impacts of that crisis are felt across uh society. I'm have worked in housing for over two decades and I've never seen it as bad as it is at the moment in in Australia. I've never seen the numbers of people seeking Homelessness assistance that we have in Australia now. And increasingly people completely priced out at the housing market in terms of working people who would want to own their own home. So there's this combination of factors that are really putting pressure on people who need housing, particularly those on low incomes, to be able to f find A safe and secure home. It's um it's a crisis.
And I think part of the decisions that the New South Wales government have made to establish homes in New South Wales is really to say we need to have a single point of contact for our community and for our stakeholders and our partners in industry to say, how are we going to work together to boost the supply of social and affordable housing in New South Wales. And I think having one
What does Homes NSW plan to do and how is it structured to tackle the shortage?
key point in government that we can go to and start um having these conversations that developing a clear pipeline for new homes is going to make it much easier for us to combine, tackle the crisis together.
But I mean one agency, I'm sure you're going to do fantastic work, but I mean that's just a bit of an internal reorganization, isn't it? Isn't it the real issue that's got to be a way found to deliver all these new homes? And what's what's been stopping it in the past? Has it been availability of the land? Has it been uh developers not wanting to engage fast enough because they you know, they th they see a way of maximizing their returns by working a bit slower? Well I mean what What's the issue that's really caused us to get into this situation in the first place? Well,
I think it's a combination of factors that we've seen in in Australia.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Why is Australia’s housing market considered a crisis and how severe is it?
0:01–3:17
2
What does Homes NSW plan to do and how is it structured to tackle the shortage?
3:17–7:43
3
Is increasing housing supply enough or do policy reforms also need to change?
7:43–11:18
4
How do social‑housing and affordable‑housing definitions differ in Australia?
11:18–14:46
5
What role do government subsidies and planning conditions play in new builds?
14:46–18:38
6
How are construction costs, workforce shortages, and land availability affecting delivery?
18:38–21:25
7
What funding mechanisms (e.g., Housing Australia Future Fund) are being used to create certainty for investors?
21:25–24:37
8
What long‑term levers—tax, downsizing incentives, modern construction methods—could finally resolve the crisis?
24:37–27:22