2026-03-13
8 min read
Housing and Urban Development
The Housing Australia Future Fund promised to catalyse 30,000 social and affordable homes. Six months after the first investments, we tracked actual construction starts against the targets.
The Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF) was legislated in September 2023 with a $10B investment fund, the returns from which would finance 30,000 new social and affordable homes over five years. Housing Australia (the new entity managing the fund) made its first investment commitments in September 2025. Six months later, we tracked the results.
1,847
homes with construction started (vs 6,000 target)
Housing Australia has committed funding for 8,200 dwellings across 47 projects. But commitment is not construction. Of those 8,200, only 1,847 have broken ground. The remainder are in various stages of planning approval, design, or procurement. At the current rate, the 30,000 target by 2028 would require a dramatic acceleration that the construction industry says is not feasible given current labour and material constraints.
“You can't build houses without builders. We're competing for the same workforce as the infrastructure boom, the renewable energy transition, and private residential construction. Something has to give.”
— Master Builders Australia CEO, Housing Industry Forum (Feb 2026)
Of the 1,847 dwellings under construction, 62% are in metropolitan areas of Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane. Only 11% are in regional areas, despite regional Australia having some of the most acute housing shortages. Housing Australia says regional projects face longer planning timelines and higher per-unit costs.
“I waited 4 years on the social housing list. Four years. With two kids. They told me I wasn't priority enough.”
— Single mother, public housing waitlist, South Australia
The $10B fund generated returns of $680M in its first year — above the projected $500M. This is good news for the fund's sustainability but hasn't translated into faster delivery on the ground. The bottleneck is not funding availability but construction capacity and planning approvals.
“We've been saving for 8 years and the goalpost keeps moving. Every year the deposit we need goes up by more than we can save. It's like running on a treadmill.”
— Priya and Rajan Sharma, couple in their 30s, Sydney, housing inquiry submission
Sources & Methodology
Housing Australia, Quarterly Investment Report Q2 2025-26
Parliamentary Joint Committee on Housing, Inquiry Progress Report (Feb 2026)
Master Builders Australia, Construction Workforce Survey (Jan 2026)
YourGov tracking of 47 HAFF-funded projects (Mar 2026)
Read our full methodology →