Chaney calls for housing reform (22 Mar 2025)

WA politicians have called on all levels of government to advance the state’s housing affordability and boost supply in the lead-up to the federal election.

Federal MPs Patrick Gorman and Kate Chaney, appearing alongside WA Senator Jordon Steele-John at a housing town hall on Wednesday, said more needed to be done to protect social housing and increase market access across the state.

Data from housing affordability campaigner Everybody’s Home reveals that Perth, Swan, Canning, and Brand are the electorates with the biggest homelessness and social housing shortfalls in WA.

The latest report from the Real Estate Institute of Australia showed housing affordability in WA declined over the December quarter as property prices continue to rise.

“The Perth median house sale price increased 23.3 per cent in the year to December 2024 and the regions have also seen strong growth,”
— REIWA chief executive Cath Hart said on Tuesday.

“As a result, larger mortgages are needed to purchase property.”

While the pollies clashed on how to best approach the issue, they all agreed that policies which stimulated housing supply went hand-in-hand with creating affordability in the state.

Ms Chaney likened funding without reform in the current social housing environment to:

“having an ambulance at the bottom of a cliff,”

…stressing that key policy levers were missing in action.

To that end, the Curtin MP said Commonwealth, state, and local governments would need to collaborate on strategies to boost the number of homes available—and to ensure that new buyers weren’t priced out of the market.

Related article: Housing Affordability Won’t Fix Itself - February 2025