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How many houses have the Albanese government built in the last 14 months
Executive Summary
The question cannot be answered with a single, verifiable tally because public datasets and political claims measure different things: approvals, commencements, completions, purchases and program commitments are reported separately and on different schedules. Official program data show about 1,057 completed dwellings under the Social Housing Accelerator as of 30 June 2025, while broader measures cite hundreds of additional completed HAFF projects and large numbers of approvals — none of which sum to a definitive “houses built in the last 14 months” figure without reconciling approvals versus completions and program scopes [1] [2] [3].
1. Political claims that demand a closer look — “500,000 homes” versus focused program outputs
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and government messaging have at times used aggregate claims such as “500,000 homes constructed since June 2022”, a span that overlaps the 14‑month window in question but does not isolate that specific period or distinguish approvals from completed builds [3]. Opposition lines have pushed a counterclaim that “no homes” were built under Labor programs; fact-based reviews of program-level reporting show that this absolute denial is false because discrete programs report completed dwellings — for example the Social Housing Accelerator reports completed and commenced dwelling counts [2] [1]. The political framing matters: the government emphasizes cumulative achievements and targets, while critics emphasize shortfalls against the 1.2 million target and timing of completions [4] [5].
2. What the official program datasets actually report about completions and commencements
Commonwealth program reporting differentiates completed, commenced, and committed but not yet started dwellings. The Treasury’s Social Housing Accelerator tally shows 1,057 dwellings completed, 1,666 commenced but not completed, and 1,528 committed but not commenced as of 30 June 2025, with state breakdowns provided (NSW 580 completed, WA 192, Vic 146) and 292 First Nations dwellings completed or underway [1]. The National Housing Accord tracked 218,306 dwelling approvals in its first 14 months, which is 22% below the Accord’s early target of 280,000 approvals — but approvals are not equivalent to physical completions [3]. These distinctions are crucial: approvals signal pipeline volume, while completions reflect homes actually ready for occupation.
3. Approvals outpacing completions — the structural lag that confuses headline counts
Industry and independent analyses indicate approvals frequently precede completions by months or years; historical data show dwelling approvals have outpaced completions by around 5% over the past decade, and the National Housing Supply and Affordability Council projects the country will miss its 1.2 million target without accelerating completions [3] [5]. The Government’s modular and manufacturing investments (e.g., $54 million for prefabricated housing) and Help to Buy expansions are meant to speed delivery, but such investments typically affect medium-term pipeline rather than immediate completions [4] [6]. Therefore, a 14‑month snapshot will under-count the policy impact that is intended to unfold over multiple years.
4. Social and affordable housing deliveries — modest completed numbers, larger pipeline commitments
Commonwealth social housing instruments show low double‑ or three‑digit completed counts in the short term but larger numbers committed or under construction. The Affordable Housing Bond Aggregator and Housing Australia Future Fund report over 2,400 new social and affordable homes financed and 350+ HAFF homes listed as completed, while the Social Housing Accelerator program targeted roughly 4,000 new/refurbished homes with 1,057 completed by mid‑2025 [7] [2] [1]. The distinction between acquisitions of existing dwellings and new‑build completions further complicates any simple “houses built” metric because some reported “homes” are purchases of existing properties rather than newly constructed units [2].
5. Buyer support and private purchases: large counts that are not the same as new builds
Help to Buy and Home Guarantee schemes have supported tens of thousands of buyers (government statements cite 150,000 helped to buy with lower deposits and the Home Guarantee Scheme supported 58,000 eligible buyers, with 36,089 homes purchased in 2023–24), but these figures mostly capture transactions and buyer assistance, not the construction of new dwellings [4] [7]. Counting such purchases alongside new-build completions would conflate housing demand and access programs with supply delivered via construction, producing misleading totals if the question is strictly “how many houses built.”
6. Bottom line — no single verified 14‑month build count; use program completions and approvals to estimate
There is no single, authoritative public figure that answers “how many houses has the Albanese government built in the last 14 months” because official records separate approvals, commencements, completions, purchases and program commitments [3] [1]. The most concrete short‑term completion figure in Commonwealth reporting is 1,057 completed dwellings under the Social Housing Accelerator to 30 June 2025, accompanied by hundreds of HAFF completions and thousands of committed or commenced homes — while the National Housing Accord recorded 218,306 approvals in its first 14 months [1] [2] [3]. Readers should treat political aggregate claims (e.g., 500,000 since 2022) as cumulative and not directly answering a discrete 14‑month completed‑build question without further disaggregation [3].