The Housing Industry Association (HIA) has welcomed the National Housing Supply Council’s (NHSC) 2nd State of Supply Report.
The report underlines the increasing gap between housing supply and demand, which the Council estimates to be a dwelling shortfall of 178,400 as of June 2009.
This gap, between how many homes are supplied and how many are needed, increased by 78,800 dwellings during last financial year alone and is projected to reach 300,000 dwellings by 2014.
HIA chief executive, association, Graham Wolfe, says the Council’s projections were close to those recently developed by the HIA and that these numbers should represent a call to action for all levels of government.
"The Council suggests that underlying demand for dwellings is over 180,000 each year and that while Australia has the land to potentially develop close to this level (176,000 dwellings), planning delays and restrictions and developer charges make such an outcome highly unlikely," Wolfe says.
"The housing supply issue includes a diverse range of issues including land supply, council approval processes, labour and capital availability, and taxation. Improving upon current outcomes requires an all-of-government approach.
"Failure to address these considerable issues will have dire outcomes for the cost of housing for both those purchasing homes and those who remain in the rental market."
