“The federal government has failed to meet a single home building target under its National Housing Accord, and it has no plan to get it back on track, despite out-of-control migration intakes,” said Morgan Begg, Director of Research at the Institute of Public Affairs.
Today, analysis of new Building Approvals data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) for the month of July 2025 reveals:
- The number of housing approvals granted in July 2025 was 15,769, a decline of 8 per cent from the previous month’s approval number.
- Total housing approvals in July 2025 were 21 per cent below the monthly minimum required under the National Housing Accord of 20,000.
- The cumulative shortfall since the beginning of the National Housing Accord in July 2024 was 56,484 units – 22 per cent below target.
“Every month the federal government fails to hit is approval targets; it makes it near impossible to reach the National Housing Accord’s target of 1.2 million new homes by 2029,” Mr Begg said.
“Every month from now on will require approvals at levels well above the set monthly target and the amount the federal government has been able to deliver.”
Monthly dwelling approvals vs minimum National Housing Accord target
Recent IPA research has found that in the decade between 2014 and 2024, the time needed to build a house in Australia increased by 50 per cent, with the cost of housing construction material increasing by 53 per cent.
This lack of development, combined with excessive migration intakes since the end of the pandemic, has contributed to a housing supply shortfall of approximately 179,000 between 2022 and 2024.
“Migration has and will be part of the Australian story, but this data highlights the current migration intake is unplanned and unsustainable,” Mr Begg said.
“The federal government has created the perfect storm by slamming the accelerator on migration while pushing the breaks on housing construction.”
Cumulative housing approval shortfalls to National Housing Accord target
“It is clear the federal government does not understand the nation’s housing market and the aspirations of mainstream Australians. While migration driven demand has been underestimated, the government’s own capacity to improve housing supply has been grossly overestimated,” Mr Begg said.
“All levels of government must do their part to fix this crisis. The federal government must scale back migration to sustainable levels, while state and local governments must wind back red tape and taxes on land and planning laws to get more houses built.”
To download the IPA’s previous research click here.
