Business NSW is calling on all levels of government to turn ambitious housing targets into actual homes.

National Cabinet yesterday moved to increase the five-year national housing target from 1 million to 1.2 million.

There is also a $3 billion incentive for state governments that overshoot their housing target as well as $500 million for state and local governments to invest in infrastructure.

While Business NSW CEO Daniel Hunter welcomes the ambition, he said there needs to be more done on the ground to ensure people have a roof over their heads.

“Setting an ambitious target of 1.2 million new homes over the next five years is great, but it's the delivery that we really need to see action from government,” he said.

"We need state and local planning systems to say ‘yes’ to more homes and work with industry and builders to get moving on this target.

“It’s critical that people have the option to live close to their place of work, and housing supply is crucial to that. Businesses and the community can’t afford more inaction.

“We need to open pathways for institutional investment in quality housing, at the right price in the right places for jobs, families and wellbeing.” 

Business NSW – which represents almost 50,000 businesses across the state – has renewed calls for Federal Parliament to both pass the Housing Australia Future Fund legislation and resist any plans for a rent freeze.

More than one in three (35%) business owners refer to affordability of housing for workers in nearby areas as one of the biggest barriers to hiring new employees, according to the Business NSW Business Conditions Survey.

At a state-wide level, Business NSW is calling on the state government to: 

•           Double the size of our CBDs’ permanent populations over the next 10 years.

•           Increase the supply of lower impact medium density housing like terrace housing, town housing, dual occupancy, and low-rise residential apartments across NSW.

•           Follow the lead of New Zealand and rezone large cities like the Sydney metropolis to permit this type of medium-density housing.