The Federal Government has set a target to build 1.2 million new dwellings over 2024 - 2029 under the National Housing Accord. BuildSkills Australia have in turn estimated that there is the requirement for 90,000 new residential building workers to deliver these 1.2 million new dwellings. At Charter Keck Cramer we have broken down these figures to a state and territory level to understand the magnitude of this task.
Our analysis indicates that these targets are broadly what is required to bring the housing market back into balance (240,000 new dwellings per year). To achieve this however, Australian states and territories will need to deliver record levels of new dwellings over this 5-year period. For context, at peak years of supply in FY 2017, there were around 220,000 new dwellings delivered in Australia. During this time both the greenfield and apartment markets were extremely active, and this was underpinned by foreign and local investors and lower tax settings. Critically, we were also at a very different point in the housing market and economic cycle and did not have a costs of delivery crisis preventing the feasible delivery of new product.
To achieve these aspirations Australia desperately needs tax reform, labour reform, planning reform and immigration reform. We also need political consensus and bipartisan support at all levels of Government and across all political parties that transcend electoral cycles. Various State Governments are starting to take the right steps with respect to planning reform but more needs to be done in this space. Tax, labour and immigration reform also need to be addressed so that the housing system is ready for the next 50 years.
It is our view that a 5-year window to rebalance the housing market, whilst well intentioned, is simply not realistic. Many changes at the planning level alone will take 1-2 market cycles (7-10 years minimum) to flow through once implemented. This is also assuming that the housing market is not dislocated as it currently is, which means it will almost certainly take even longer to occur. The Government is encouraged to stay the course and to continue to make longer-term evidence-based decisions across planning, tax, labour and immigration reform that set the housing market up for future generations. While some of these decisions may face resistance, they are necessary for the long-term health of the housing market. Now is the time to act - decisions made today will flow through tomorrow.
- Source: National Housing Supply & Affordability Council - State of the Housing System (2025), BuildSkills Australia (2024), Charter Keck Cramer
- NOTE: Dwelling targets have been adopted from the National Housing Supply & Affordability Council - State of the Housing System (2025). The same methodology has been used to apportion the building workers.
Charter Keck Cramer’s experts are here to assist with working through these generational shaping decisions with independent evidence-based research and insights.
Richard Temlett
National Executive Director | Research
Charter Keck Cramer
