The ACT government is promising to deliver nearly 26,000 new homes across Canberra over the next five years.<\/p>\n
The latest Housing Supply and Land Release Program \u2014 released as part of tomorrow’s ACT budget \u2014 includes plans for nearly 4,300 new homes this financial year.<\/p>\n
The government says the extra homes will help meet the capital’s growing housing needs, with the population expected to reach 700,000 by 2050.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It’s all part of the governments plan to “enable” 30,000 new homes by the end of 2030.<\/p>\n
But what are these 26,000 homes going to look like, and where are they going to be built?<\/p>\n
Units or detached dwellings?<\/p>\n
Just 11 per cent (2,885) of the 25,794 homes planned over the next five years will be standalone properties, with the rest multi-unit dwellings.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This financial year, 182 of the 4,293 homes planned will be standalone dwellings, and they’ll all be within the Ginninderry development in west Belconnen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Here’s the number of single and multi-unit dwellings planned for each district during this first year, and over the five-year program:<\/p>\n
DISTRICTSINGLE HOMES 2026-27SINGLE HOMES 2026-31MULTI-UNITS 2026-27MULTI-UNITS 2026-31TOTAL DWELLINGSBelconnen1821,2002182,1083,308Gungahlin\u00a0–7589253,2253,983Inner North\/City\u00a0—-1,3002,2822,282Inner South\u00a0—\u00a0—\u00a0–2,4002,400Molonglo Valley\u00a0–7076146,3367,043Tuggeranong\u00a0—\u00a0\u00a0–254993993Weston Creek\u00a0—\u00a0—\u00a0–850850Woden Valley\u00a0—\u00a0–8004,2004,200East Canberra\u00a0–4\u00a0–1115<\/p>\n
ACT Housing Minister Yvette Berry acknowledged 26,000 homes was an “ambitious target” but one she believed was “achievable”.<\/p>\n
“It’s a reasonable approach to making sure that we have housing all across the ACT, including targeting homes for people who need them most,” she said.<\/p>\n
“Importantly, the program also reserves 15 per cent of suitable residential land releases [in 2026-27] for public, community and affordable housing, which is targeted to deliver nearly 300 of these new homes at sites across Canberra.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Yvette Berry says greenfield sites in the ACT are “finite”.\u00a0 (ABC News: David Sciasci)<\/p>\n
Is there enough choice?<\/p>\n
The limited number of standalone dwellings in the government’s plan has been criticised by Master Builders ACT CEO Anna Neelagama.<\/p>\n
“This indicative program has consistently failed to reflect reality and cannot be relied upon,” she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“In the first year … there are only 182 single dwelling homes planned for release for the whole of the ACT.<\/p>\n
“The question must be asked: does this program signal the beginning of the end of the great Australian dream in the ACT and the ability to own your own block of land and a standalone home?”<\/p>\n
CEO of the Real Estate Institute ACT, Maria Edwards, also warned that there’s “not enough diversity in what’s being approved”.<\/p>\n
“There’s a lot of talk about building one-bedroom units as sort of a solution to the supply problem in the ACT, but we already have a lot of one-bedroom units,” she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
ACT Real Estate Institute CEO Maria Edwards hopes there’ll be enough choice for homeowners. (ABC News: Stuart Carnegie)<\/p>\n
“So if we can get bigger two-bedroom apartments, three-bedroom apartments and townhouses, that would be a great solution.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“I think the most important thing is that that there is a real adequate mixture of homes that are being built in these newer suburbs, and that there is choice for people.”Meeting the 30,000 target<\/p>\n
Some of the new homes announced today will be built on government-released greenfield sites \u2014 or previously undeveloped land \u2014 around the Molonglo town centre and Macnamara in Belconnen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But most of the new homes will be built within Canberra’s existing urban footprint, under changes to planning laws designed to encourage infill.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ms Berry emphasised that “greenfield land in the ACT was finite” and said the government was “looking at every opportunity” to meet its 30,000 homes target.\u00a0<\/p>\n