The Elephant in the Room
The property podcast for the thinking person.

Episodes

Episode 456: Why Building More Homes Isn’t That Simple

Australia knows it needs more homes. So why do policies designed to tackle the housing crisis keep making it harder to build them?

HIA Senior Economist Tom Devitt joins Veronica and Chris to unpack the growing disconnect between Australia’s housing targets and the realities facing the construction industry. From severe skilled trade shortages and planning delays to rising land costs, taxes and infrastructure constraints, Tom explains why simply calling for more supply won’t deliver the homes Australia needs.

They also examine the unintended consequences of recent policy changes, including negative gearing reforms and the ban on SMSF borrowing, and how decisions affecting investor demand can flow through to new housing construction and rental supply. With vacancy rates around 1% nationally, Tom challenges the argument that reducing property investment will solve the rental crisis.

The conversation also explores where new supply could realistically come from, including medium-density housing, smaller lots and planning reform, and why short-term property market weakness doesn’t change the underlying imbalance between population growth and housing supply. If Australia wants to make housing more affordable, the real challenge isn’t identifying the need to build more. It’s removing the constraints stopping it from happening.

Episode Highlights

01:39 – Meet HIA Economist Tom Devitt

02:14 – Why Australia Still Can’t Build Enough Homes

04:13 – The Skilled Trades Shortage Holding Housing Back

07:01 – Why Construction Workers Are Being Pulled Elsewhere

10:35 – Prefab Won’t Solve the Housing Shortage Alone

13:08 – How the SMSF Ban Could Sink Entire Projects

17:03 – The Housing Finance Fallout From the SMSF Ban

19:36 – Are Buyers Losing Confidence in New Housing?

22:44 – Why Sydney and Melbourne Are Falling Behind

25:32 – Are We Really Measuring Construction Productivity?

30:46 – Why Builders Are Going Under Despite Strong Demand

34:17 – Why Some New Housing Simply Doesn’t Stack Up

36:59 – Why Medium-Density Housing Could Be the Sweet Spot

39:58 – The Housing Fundamentals That Eventually Win

41:44 – The Rental Crisis Needs More Investors, Not Fewer

About the Guest

Tom Devitt is a senior economist at the Housing Industry Association (HIA), where he works on the economic conditions shaping Australia’s residential construction industry. His work includes analysing housing construction forecasts, industry capacity, labour shortages, planning constraints and the impact of government policy on new housing.

Tom brings an industry-focused economic perspective to the housing supply debate, looking beyond headline targets to examine what actually determines whether a home gets built. In this episode, he discusses construction capacity, skilled trades shortages, development feasibility, planning reform, rental supply and the effects of recent policy changes affecting property investment and housing finance.

Connect with Tom Devitt

Resources:

Visit our website: https://www.theelephantintheroom.com.au

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Chris Bates