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{{propApi.successMessage}} {{region}} Change locationHIA calls for bold housing reforms in 2026–27 ACT Budget
HIA calls for bold housing reforms in 2026–27 ACT Budget
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HIA Executive Director ACT & Southern NSW, Geordan Murray, said the budget represents a pivotal opportunity for the ACT to tackle the structural barriers holding back housing delivery.
Mr Murray will be outlining HIA’s key 2026-27 ACT Budget asks at the HIA State of the Nation, Housing Outlook in Canberra on Friday morning, where HIA Chief Economist Tim Reardon and ACT Opposition Leader Mark Parton will be also presenting.
“The ACT is simply not building enough homes, and the system is making it too hard and too costly to deliver the housing that our community urgently needs,” Mr Murray said.
“The Territory faces a structural undersupply of housing, rising population growth, severe labour shortages, and a regulatory burden that places ACT builders at a direct competitive disadvantage compared with NSW. That must change.”
Mr Murray said home building businesses are increasingly shifting across the border to operate in more favourable conditions, taking with them economic activity, jobs and future revenue for the Territory.
“The ACT needs to reposition itself as a pro‑growth, pro‑housing, pro‑business jurisdiction,” he said.
“That means embracing a YIMBY mindset, fixing the tax and regulatory settings that are holding projects back, and making the Territory a more attractive place to invest and build.”
HIA’s key recommendations for the ACT Budget include:
- Abolish the Lease Variation Charge to unlock development feasibility and reduce upfront costs.
- Lifting housing supply targets to an equivalent of 7,000 homes per year through to 2030.
- Reviewing residential land price determination, ensuring settings support new home feasibility.
- Funding to deliver job-readiness and pre-apprenticeship programs in critical residential building trades.
- Extend the transition period for NCC 2025 adoption in to at least twelve months.
Mr Murray said land pricing and business competitiveness are now critical issues for the sector.
“The ACT Government is the monopoly supplier of land. When land is priced in a way that makes new homes uncompetitive with established dwellings, housing supply stalls.
We need land policy that aligns with affordability, not revenue maximisation,” he said.
“Builders right now are weighed down by repeated building code changes, referral delays and appeal processes that slow approvals. These costs ultimately push families out of the market and deter new workers entering into the industry despite the chronic trades shortfall across the Territory.
“If the ACT wants real downward pressure on house prices and rents, supply must grow beyond what we’ve seen before. Matching past output is not enough - the Territory needs ambition, and the Budget must back it,” Mr Murray concluded.
The HIA State of the Nation Lunch will be held at Hotel Realm on Friday, 27 February 2026, commencing at 12:00 pm.
For more information please contact:
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