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The Housing Industry Association (HIA) has supported the Labor government’s request to approve its social and affordable housing projects during the caretaker period.
The nation’s leading peak body for residential construction has backed Housing Minister Clare O’Neil’s call to keep approving housing projects before the election to increase the supply of social and affordable housing.
Earlier this week, on 9 April 2025, the ABC reported that O’Neil wrote to the shadow minister for housing, Michael Sukkar, to request permission to continue approving Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF) projects despite the federal government being in caretaker mode.
Caretaker conventions were implemented after the announcement of the 2025 federal election, preventing the government from entering into “major contracts or undertakings” in the lead-up to the election results.
Last month, Housing Australia revealed that “91 projects have reached contract close” under the first round of the HAFF and National Housing Accord Facility (NHAF) programs, which would support the delivery of over 8,200 social and affordable homes.
O’Neil argued that ongoing approvals would help avoid costs and prevent further delays in creating social and affordable housing, as the projects could be at risk of not proceeding if the HAFF is abolished before all contracts are signed.
Last month, Opposition Leader, Peter Dutton, pledged that the Coalition, if elected, would stop the Housing Australia Future Fund, which he said “has not built a single additional home”.
Nevertheless, Dutton stated at a later press conference that an elected Coalition government would still honour contracts entered into under the previous Labor administration.
Sukkar told the ABC that O’Neil’s request was an “eleventh-hour push” to get homes approved before the election.
While political leaders have slammed O’Neil’s request, the Housing Industry Association (HIA) said they supported the continuation of project approvals.
“HIA is supportive of waiving the need for caretaker pauses to move forward with current and future projects.”
The peak body’s chief executive of industry and policy, Simon Croft, said that the removal of caretaker pauses would help to boost the supply of social and affordable housing across the nation.
“The HIA has a number of builders involved in these projects, at various stages of planning, funding and costings for projects and they need certainty and consistency, and any delays make these projects more challenging to deliver,” Croft explained.
In addition to adjusting the caretaker period, Croft also urged all major political parties to commit to “long-term and consistent funding” for the HAFF program.
Should the program continue, the HIA also urged the elected government to examine ways to accelerate the delivery of projects outlined in the HAFF, including simpler accreditation process for builders wanting to work under the program.
“HIA has called on all major parties to commit to long-term and consistent funding to boost the supply of social, affordable and community housing,” Croft said.
“Part of this includes a doubling of the funding of the HAFF beyond current timelines for the program,” he added.
Master Builders Australia also called on the next federal government to prioritise investment in the social and community housing sector, including “honouring projects that are already in train”.
The peak body’s CEO, Denita Wawn, described HAFF as a “missing piece of the puzzle in establishing ongoing support for social and community housing”.
“Housing is not a political football to be passed around from local, state and federal governments,” Wawn said.
“It requires a coordinated approach with the federal government leading the way,” she concluded.
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