A unique investment approach to two of Australia's biggest concerns

Australia’s housing shortage continues to be a pressing concern, and while there are apartments in development, there’s little to indicate it will be enough to ease the problems.

Added to this is the urgent need to factor sustainability in our buildings – not just to ensure the longer-term liveability of these dwellings but also to minimise our carbon footprint.

The International Energy Agency says 40% of total global emissions come from the built environment. The concept of sustainability has been readily adopted in office and retail sectors in recent years, but the residential sector has been far slower to take this up.

In this wire, we’ll explore the key challenges for Australia.

The housing crisis and the need to focus on sustainable housing

It is notable that in a period where we are seeing a rental crisis and housing shortage, private dwelling completions were 11% below the 10-year average in 2023.

The Federal Government’s National Housing Supply and Affordability Council – State of the Housing System 2024 adds to the concerning data, with key findings including an estimated shortfall of 903,000 new dwellings in the five years to June 2029.

Efforts to rectify the undersupply though also need to factor in Australia’s other pressing challenge, achieving net zero emissions by 2050. With buildings being the world’s single largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, there are significant changes that need to be made.

To meet net-zero targets, the Green Building Council of Australia suggests the following needs to happen:

1. Electrify more than 500 homes a day, every day plus improve the energy efficiency of 100 more.
2. Retrofit nearly 3.5% of the current non-residential stock annually.

Attempts to deliver new housing at speed are risking side-lining sustainability and it’s clear that as we continue to grow as a country, we must continue to innovate in the residential sector. 

Read our white paper, The Need for Sustainable Residential Buildings to find out more on the current challenges and what solutions Australia could adopt from overseas countries to progress sustainable residential developments and meet its goal of net zero emissions by 2050.