“The first full year of the National Housing Accord has been a dismal failure, with a deficit of more than 52,000 new homes compared to what the federal government promised it would deliver, all while migration intakes remain elevated,” said Morgan Begg, Director of Research at the Institute of Public Affairs.
Today, IPA analysis of new Building Approvals data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) for the month of June 2025reveals:
- The number of housing approvals granted in June 2025 was 17,076 – well below the Accord target of 20,000.
- The cumulative shortfall since the beginning of the National Housing Accord in July 2024 was 52,667 units, or 22 per cent below the annual target of 240,000 new homes.
- Annual housing approvals for the financial year ending 2025, of 185,844, was higher than the previous financial year’s but still 16 per cent below the pandemic-year peak of 221,974 (in 2021).
- The overall increase in dwellings has mostly occurred in apartments and other non-house dwellings (+27 per cent) rather than detached houses (+6 per cent).
“Whatever meagre growth in approvals is occurring is disproportionately focused on the types of dwellings that Australian families do not aspire to live in. Despite the surge in apartment and unit approvals, the government is still not reaching the targets it set,” Mr Begg said.
“Every month from now still needs a housing approval surplus – above and beyond the initial monthly target – just to get back on track to building 1.2 million new homes by 2029 as promised under the National Housing Accord.”
Recent IPA research has found that in the decade between 2014 and 2024, the time needed to build a house in Australia has increased by 50 per cent, with the cost of housing construction material having gone up by 53 per cent.
This lack of development combined with an excessive migration intake since the end of the pandemic has contributed in a post-pandemic housing supply shortfall of roughly 179,000 between 2022 and 2024.
“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.
“No wonder Australians are living through a perfect storm of rising prices and rents in a housing market that has put the great Australian dream of homeownership out of reach.”
All levels of government must do their part to fix this crisis. The federal government should immediately reduce migration to sustainable levels, while state and local governments must open up more land and cut red tape to speed housing construction.
“Home ownership gives people, and their families, a stake in the community and in the future of their country,” Mr Begg said.
“Cramming people into high-density apartments is not the solution. Governments at all levels are responsible for the housing failure and all bear the responsibility for fixing the problem.”
To download the IPA’s previous research click here.
