A new report for two community housing associations shows that more affordable housing could be a vote changing issue in the election.
New research from Redbridge on behalf of the Community Housing Industry Association (CHIA) and PowerHousing Australia (PHA) has found that affordable housing could be a deciding issue in 24 of the most contestable divisions in the upcoming Australian election. According to the research, 73% of voters regard housing affordability as important or very important to how they will vote in the election. Interestingly, voters from across the political spectrum broadly agree on this issue.
84% of people surveyed also agree that ensuring all Australians have safe, stable housing is a fundamental government responsibility. In contrast, 72% of respondents disagree that there is enough affordable housing, and 71% disagree that the private market provides enough appropriate housing for low-income essential workers. This suggests that much more needs to be done to address the issue.
The current state of housing affordability
Housing affordability is getting worse and worse in Australia. Another report published in January 2025 found that rents have increased by 36% nationally since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is the equivalent of $8,884 more per year for a median rental property. While the problem has intensified in recent years, it has been building for a long time with no solution in sight. House prices in 2024 were more than four and a half times what they were in 2001, but wages were only around double what they were at the beginning of the millennium.
In the past, Australia had a straightforward strategy to solve the housing crisis. Following the Great Depression and World War II, housing availability and affordability was in dire straits. Rather than deferring to the private market to fix this issue, the Australian Government directed and funded state governments to build tens of thousands of public housing dwellings across the country. These properties were rented to people at affordable prices, and many were later sold to longtime tenants.
While there has been a recent push for state governments and the Australian government to fund and build more public housing, far more dwellings are needed. In January 2025, more than 64,000 individuals and families were on the waiting list for public and community housing in New South Wales.
Affordable housing is both essential and popular
As the report commissioned by CHIA and PHA shows, building more public housing is not only sorely needed, it is also massively popular. More than three quarters of respondents in the report agree that Australia needs more public and community housing. Despite this, neither of the two major parties have committed to anywhere near the necessary number of public housing dwellings. Maiy Azize, spokesperson and policy advocate for Everybody’s Home, a national campaign for housing affordability, has summed up this issue succinctly in an interview with ABC News. According to Ms. Azize, “When you look at the countries that have either avoided a housing crisis altogether or managed to turn them around, they have one thing in common: their governments are delivering a lot of housing themselves”.
Clearly, our political parties need to take note.
