Opening Statement – Parliamentary hearing on social housing

Event: Parliamentary hearing on social housing

Economics References Committee Hearing

Social Housing Inquiry

Date: 10 November 2026

Speaker: Melissa Byrne, Master Builders Australia National Director of Policy and Legal

Opening Statement

E&OE

Thank you Chair and Senators for the opportunity to appear today. As a member of the National Affordable Housing Alliance, Master Builders believes the delivery of social housing is a key part of the housing continuum. Social housing cannot, however, be looked at in isolation. It is hugely dependent on what happens in other parts of the market.

One of the challenges we currently face is that we are not building enough new homes across the board. Our latest forecasts show the nation is on track to miss the National Housing Accord target of 1.2 million homes by 262,000 dwellings. At the same time, construction of social housing has collapsed over the past four decades.

The barriers to increasing all types of supply include:

• increased risk in the financial viability of projects,
• a collapse by 21.5 per cent in productivity over the last decade,
• 53 per cent increases to home building costs since the pandemic, and
• construction workforce shortages adding to delays and propelling costs upwards.

Within that context, social housing currently has a supply problem but also a demand one.

On demand, the Budget’s restrictions to negative gearing, self-managed superfunds and Capital Gains Tax makes it less attractive and more expensive to be in the rental market, placing upward pressure on rents according to independent modelling. This makes it likely that a greater number of households are likely to find themselves in need of social housing, meaning longer waiting lists and even bigger shortages.

On the supply side, Government programs like the Housing Australia Future Fund, the Social Housing Accelerator and the Bond Aggregator have set the stage to prioritise the delivery of social housing however these benefits have so far been relatively small.

According to the Australian National Audit Office, just 1,432 homes were completed through the combined support of HAFF and the separate National Housing Accord Facility – equivalent to 3.6 per cent of the 40,000-home target under HAFF.

The missing piece of the puzzle is a policy agenda that expands industry capacity, lifts productivity and ensures every dollar of public and private investment delivers the greatest possible increase in housing supply. To support the delivery of social housing Master Builders recommends:

• Supporting investment in social housing by encouraging government to support the widening of low-cost financing options for the creation of new homes by social housing providers
• Addressing the needs of the private rental market by reversing the May 2026 Federal Budget measures impacting negative gearing, capital gains tax, the higher taxation of trusts and the ban on borrowing by Self-Managed Super Funds for housing be reversed. Doing so will allow more housing supply to reach the rental market and help dilute rental inflation, reducing the demands on social housing stock
• Addressing the costs of building new homes by pulling a range of policy levers targeted at:
  • expanding the size and capability of the construction workforce,
  • reducing the regulatory burden,
  • strengthening industry supply chains, and
  • using the government procurement process to enhance competitive settings.

Closing of the 262,000-housing gap mentioned earlier will not only increase the number of social homes being delivered, but it will also reduce pressure on social housing demand itself. Thank you.

Media contact: Dylan Hafey, Adviser, Media & Government Relations

0497 330 064 | dylan.hafey@masterbuilders.com.au