The Albanese government’s fantastical target of building 1.2 million dwellings over five years, or 240,000 homes a year, is based on delivering another boom in high-rise apartment towers, even greater than the one experienced between 2015 and 2020.
To meet the federal government’s lofty housing construction target, Australia would need to build more homes than ever before, given that the record single year of new home construction was only 223,600 in 2017 amid the aforementioned apartment construction boom.
Policymakers conveniently overlook the fact that the last decade’s unprecedented boom in high-rise apartment towers resulted in an increase in construction defects and quality issues, such as fractured foundations, water leaks, balcony defects, and flammable cladding.
