A leading advocacy group for the social housing and homelessness sector in Australia has slammed plans by the Coalition to abolish Labor’s $10 billion fund for social and affordable housing if it wins the upcoming federal election.

In a statement issued last week, Everybody’s Home warned that Coalition plans to scrap the Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF) would have a devastating impact on vulnerable Australians who seek homelessness support.

“The Federal Opposition’s plan to axe the HAFF will rob tens of thousands of Australians the opportunity of a safe, decent, affordable home,” Everybody’s Home spokesperson Maiy Azize said.

“Without these homes, people who have nowhere to go will be trapped in homelessness.

“Abolishing the HAFF will mean more Australians sleeping in tent cities instead of a safe bed in a decent home. That means children sleeping in emergency shelters, cars, tents, couches and on the streets for longer.

“Homelessness services are overstretched as it is with limited long-term housing options to provide to those in need.”

Established in November 2023, the $10 billion HAFF is a dedicated investment vehicle from which returns are used to support delivery of social and affordable housing.

The fund offers grants or loans for projects which involve building social and affordable housing or which support acute housing needs.

Over the five years from 1 July 2024, the HAFF is expected to support delivery of approximately 20,000 new social homes and 20,000 new affordable homes.

As of 28 March, Housing Australia says that 91 projects have been approved under the scheme. These will support the delivery of 8,246 homes.

However, the fund has been the subject of debate during the election campaign.

On one hand, industry, housing and homelessness and social services advocacy groups have called for the fund to be ramped up.

In a joint statement released last year, six leading advocacy groups called for the fund’s size to be increased from $10 billion to $20 billion.

Others have gone further. Independent senator David Pocock has called for the fund’s size to be quadrupled to $40 billion.

However, the Coalition says it will scrap the fund if it wins office. It claims that no new homes have been created under the fund.

In its statement, Everybody’s Home has warned that such a move would have disastrous consequences.

It said that each year, around 76,000 Australians currently seek support from homelessness services but miss out on long-term housing.

As things stand, should the HAFF deliver 20,000 social housing dwellings (along with 20,000 affordable dwellings) as per its target, the fund could build enough social homes to house 65 percent of those who missed on housing in 2023/24 (assuming 2.5 people per household).

Were the fund to be quadrupled to cover 80,000 social housing dwellings, it could house all people who missed out in 2023/24 plus an additional 123,312 people over a decade or more.

However, if the fund is abolished by the Coalition, only a few of those Australians who missed out on housing in 2023/24 could be housed.

This would leave at least 70,000 of those who missed out on housing over the past financial year without homes.

The debate about the HAFF comes as both Labor and the Coalition are pitching their housing policies at voters in the upcoming election.

At their campaign launches on the weekend, both major parties announced significant polices regarding housing affordability.

In its reaction to those policies, Everybody’s Home says that the promises fall short of what is needed to address the current housing crisis.

It called for more investment in social housing as well as low-cost rental housing which is guaranteed to be affordable.

The group also called for scrapping of tax concessions for property investors (negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount) along with higher Centrelink payments and protection for renters in respect of any unfair rental increases.

Speaking particularly of the HAFF, Azize says that its ongoing operations are critical.

“Every year, more than 76,000 Australians who turn to homelessness services are not provided a home,” Azize said.

“The HAFF will make a difference to tens of thousands of Australians who are locked out of affordable housing.

“Each of these new social housing homes transforms lives, giving people the opportunity to escape homelessness and build a better future.

“What is needed to fix growing homelessness is more social housing, not less. The number of homes set to be delivered under the current HAFF is a start but it’s nowhere near enough to turn the housing crisis around. With a social housing shortfall of 640,000 homes, Australia must urgently scale up construction to meet this enormous and growing demand.

“The majority of Australians who are voting at this election want to see the federal government build more social housing. Now is the time to build more social housing, not less.”

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