Auditor to probe social housing fund’s value for money

One of the federal government’s signature housing policies is under review amid concerns the $10 billion plan may not provide value for money.

The Housing Australia Future Fund was established in 2023 to help address the national housing shortage and aims to build 40,000 social and affordable homes by 2028.

But slow progress on new property construction and reports that the average cost of a home under the scheme is more than $750,000 has led Opposition housing spokesman Andrew Bragg to demand an investigation from Australia’s National Audit Office.

“This will be a massive overpayment of taxpayer funds and I think it’s a shame,” he told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday.

In a letter responding to Senator Bragg, Auditor General Caralee McLiesh said an investigation was already underway and would be presented to Parliament in June 2026.

“The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) will review whether Treasury has designed the HAFF effectively and established effective delivery arrangements,” he wrote.

Senator Bragg claimed the National Anti-Corruption Commission may also need to investigate whether major super funds had an unfair say in the design of the scheme.

A spokesman for Housing Minister Clare O’Neil tried to downplay the audit, saying it was not unusual for the office to investigate major projects.

“ANAO began this inspection more than a month ago,” the spokesman said.

“We look forward to their findings and see this as an opportunity to potentially improve HAFF.”

The housing fund was initially created with a fund of $10 billion.

This money was invested in a similar way to other government funds, and the returns were used to build new social and affordable homes.

However, the program came under criticism after it was revealed that the first few hundred homes under the program were existing homes purchased by the government rather than being built from scratch.