Australia’s housing crisis to worsen with ‘significant shortfall in supply’, Labor’s expert council says

The National Housing Supply and Affordability Council says Labor’s target of 1.2m homes over five years is ‘suitably ambitious’ but projects it will not hit that goal. Photograph: Rhett Hammerton/The Guardian

Australia’s housing affordability “crisis” will continue to worsen with a “significant shortfall in supply”, according to the government’s own expert council.

In its first-ever state of the housing system report, the National Housing Supply and Affordability Council described Labor’s target of building 1.2m new homes over five years as “suitably ambitious” because it projects only 943,000 will be built in that time.