1 MARCH 2026 -- Australians’ confidence in the nation’s housing system has fallen to alarming lows, with new research showing trust in the Federal Government’s ability to address the crisis has deteriorated sharply while more citizens are forced to make difficult sacrifices to maintain their housing.
The latest AMPLIFY Home Truths report – Australia’s national ranking of housing delivery and community confidence – shows national confidence in housing delivery has fallen to 33%. The data also reveals 67% of Australians are now dissatisfied with the federal Government’s response to the housing crisis, marking an 8% drop in trust over just three months.
The data paints a concerning picture of growing pressure on Australian households:
- Only 51% feel very confident about their housing situation over the next 12 months
- 40% are making significant sacrifices to maintain housing – a sharp rise from 33% three months ago
- Australians now hold Federal and state governments equally accountable for the crisis
To make matters worse, these figures pre-date the most recent interest rate rise announced by the RBA earlier this month, with the prospect of more rate rises ahead.
Australia needs to build 980,723 new homes by 30 June 2029 - an additional 21,526 homes per year on top of the National Housing Accord yearly target to make up the shortfall from not building enough homes in previous years.
“The Federal Government deserves credit for establishing a national housing accord and setting national housing targets. But it’s clear that these actions are not delivering at the speed or scale needed to solve Australia’s worsening housing crisis,” said AMPLIFY CEO Georgina Harrisson.
"The Treasurer is right to focus the upcoming Budget on housing and productivity. Australians have all but lost confidence in the prospect of them or their kids ever owning their own home.”
“When only half the country feels very confident about their housing in the next 12 months and two in five Australians are making sacrifices just to keep a roof over their heads, we’re failing millions of Australians."
Despite declining confidence, Australians strongly back concrete action:
- 86% support increasing housing supply
- 90% want governments to address excessive construction costs
Increasing productivity in the construction industry must be a priority, with the Productivity Commission finding that the number of new dwellings built per hour worked has declined 50% over the last 20 years.
“The message to Canberra is simple: Australians are holding you accountable but have lost confidence in your ability to solve this crisis,” Harrisson said. “The only way out is to build more homes faster and bring down construction costs. All policy options need to be on the table – including dramatically reducing red tape, planning delays, labour shortages, and backing new construction methods.”
About AMPLIFY Home Truths
AMPLIFY Home Truths is Australia's first national scorecard measuring both housing delivery and community confidence. States and territories are ranked based on their progress against housing targets and more than 4,000 Australians have been engaged to assess community sentiment on housing security, government performance and policy solutions.
The AMPLIFY Home Truths report is available at https://www.amplifyaus.org/our-work/home-truths
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MEDIA CONTACT
Lucy Bladen, lucy@akinagency.com.au 0438 727 605