A botched tenant relocation scheme which contributed to delays in public housing influenced the ACT Greens to put forward a proposal for 10,000 new properties.
ACT Greens deputy leader Rebecca Vassarotti said the now-cancelled tenant relocation scheme was "extraordinarily disappointing" despite her initial support for the program.
Housing ACT embarked on a process to forcibly relocate more than 300 public housing tenants in 2022 but later abandoned this after the Ombudsman found significant flaws.
The ACT Ombudsman found the government agency did not provide adequate support for vulnerable tenants. This was backed up by the Auditor-General which found the failed program contributed to delays and cost blowouts in delivering public housing properties.
The relocations were part of the government's growth and renewal program to replace older public housing properties with newer homes.
Ms Vassarotti, who is the Housing Services and Homelessness Minister, said she had initially supported the program because of the need to build more homes to curb the housing crisis. But she said following its failure the Greens' decided to work on establishing an ambitious housing policy to take to the election.
"The fact we had people living in cars and such a small amount of stock was one of the reasons I initially supported it but the way it was implemented was extremely disappointing," she said.
"It was at that point that we really put the work in to say 'what do we need and how can we deliver it?'."
The Greens have proposed a $5.9 billion plan to build and buy 10,000 public housing properties over the next decade. The policy also includes establishing a government-owned housing developer.
Ms Vassarotti was speaking following calls for the next government to impose a four-year moratorium on new building regulation and taxes.
The Housing Industry Association ACT made the call as part of its policy platform. The association's policy document said a commitment to stop any new regulations over the next term would improve the delivery of new homes in the territory.
The association also said the "sustainability burden" needed to be reduced, saying there needed to be an honest conversation about the affect of some sustainability policies to better balance their cost.
But Ms Vassarotti, who is also the Building Minister, said regulation was not responsible for increasing housing costs.
"Canberrans are being sold a bit of a lie when we're talking about the reason that we have such high housing costs or rental costs is because of regulation," she said.
"I think we have to be really honest about what is driving housing affordability issues and it's about a structural decision that is around the federal settings that look at housing as a way to create wealth rather than provide homes for people."
Ms Vassarotti said the territory needed sensible regulation that delivered for the community to ensure what was being built was appropriate.
She oversaw the establishment of a property developer licensing scheme in the territory with laws passing in June.
"Pinning it on regulation, particularly when we're looking at a period where we will be doing significant change to our city and evolving our city, we have to be really clear that we're doing this in a way that is working for our community, not just letting the industry extract more profit," she said.
Ms Vassarotti said the Greens wanted to explore a green roofs and walls policy if elected into government again. She also said trade licensing was another priority.
