The first homes for essential workers and vulnerable Australians financed by Labor’s new housing fund will not have foundations dug and frames up until the end of next year. Source: The Age
Housing and Homelessness Minister Julie Collins said legislation for the $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund was nearly complete and would be brought before parliament in the next few months.
Ms Collins expects the legislation to pass Parliament early next year and wants to see concrete slabs poured as soon as the fund starts providing returns, hopefully in the second half of 2023.
The fund would be designed to provide investment returns that would be used to fund social and affordable housing across the country, she said.
Those returns are expected to fund 30,000 homes in the first five years, including homes for families fleeing domestic violence and for essential frontline workers including nurses, police and cleaners.
Ms Collins said states and territories and social housing providers thought the timing was good for the construction industry – which has been under pressure from booming demand and a shortage of supplies and workers.
Greens housing spokesman Max Chandler-Mather said Labor’s plan was barely a drop in the ocean, noting modelling had shown the need for social and affordable housing increased by about 14,000 homes a year.
Coalition housing spokesman Michael Sukkar said Labor’s $10 billion off-budget commitment had no detailed costing or implementation plan.
FULL STORY
Affordable housing legislation to come before parliament in next few months: Collins (By Rachel Clun, The Age)
