Land and property report shows Canberrans being deprived of genuine housing choice

The ACT Labor-Greens government has finally released the ACT Land and Property Report for December 2021 that shows only 340 single dwelling blocks were released between July and December in 2021.

This comes on the back of 656 blocks released in the first six months of 2021 for a total of 996 single dwelling blocks in the calendar year.

Canberra Liberals Leader Elizabeth Lee said the numbers out of the report tell a stark story of Canberrans being deprived of genuine choice when it comes to housing options. There were 19,871 applications for just 152 blocks across two recent land ballots.

“This Labor-Greens government is denying Canberrans the opportunity of owning their own home because it is deliberately restricting the release of land,” Ms Lee said.

“When questioned about the pathetically low number of blocks being drip fed to Canberrans, the relevant ministers refuse to even address the obvious problem. Instead, they talk about the number of ‘dwellings’; a huge portion of that being high density housing.

“This government also continues to drag its heels on the Western Edge feasibility study, despite many years and over $1 million looking into the area for housing.

“The indicative land release program shows there will only be 4,171 blocks released in the next four years but we also know this government continually fails to meet its own already low targets.

“The upcoming budget provides the perfect opportunity for this Labor-Greens government to address this issue head-on, particularly with recent census data indicating 20,000 more people are living in Canberra than thought.

“I call on this government to provide Canberrans with the opportunity they deserve to own their own home,” Ms Lee concluded.