Master Builders ACT has questioned whether the ACT Government can deliver on its latest housing targets, warning the territory’s newly released land supply program falls well short on detached housing and has a poor track record of meeting previous commitments.
The Property Council of Australia, however, welcomed the government’s five-year Housing Supply and Land Release Program, describing it as a positive step that provides greater certainty for developers and acknowledges the private sector’s role in housing delivery.
The ACT Government this week released a plan outlining land releases to support almost 26,000 new homes over the next five years, with a broader target of facilitating 30,000 homes by 2030. The program also includes commercial, community and mixed-use development opportunities and is backed by $4.6 million for planning reforms and precinct preparation.
But Master Builders ACT CEO Anna Neelagama said previous land release programs had consistently failed to meet targets.
She said residential land supply in the 2024-25 program fell nearly 27 per cent short of forecast, while no mixed-use or commercial land was released despite commitments to do so.
Ms Neelagama also raised concerns that only 182 single-dwelling blocks are planned for release across the ACT in the first year of the new program, all of them in Macnamara.
“Without urgent, structural reform to land release, the goal of delivering 30,000 homes by 2030 is not just at risk, it is unrealistic,” she said.
Property Council ACT and Capital Region executive director Ashlee Berry said the program showed encouraging momentum on housing reform, particularly its focus on missing middle housing, urban infill and development close to jobs and transport.
However, she cautioned that identifying land for housing was only the first step and said the real test would be whether sites were released to market efficiently and remained financially viable to develop. She also expressed concern about the lack of industrial land identified in the pipeline.
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