Australia’s most ambitious social housing program since World War II is now two years in. The contracts are signed, the money is moving, and Round 3 is open. But with less than 1,500 homes completed so far and a national audit in progress, builders and the industry need a clear-eyed read on where things really stand.

The Housing Australia Future Fund was always going to be a long game.

When the fund was established in November 2023, the ambition was clear: $10 billion invested, $500 million in annual returns flowing into housing, and 40,000 new social and affordable homes built across Australia by mid-2029. The government called it the largest investment in social housing since the post-war era.

Two years on, the fund is generating returns, contracts are in place across all major states, and Round 3 opened in January 2026. But the completion numbers tell a more complex story.

As of late 2025, just 889 homes had been completed under Rounds 1 and 2. By May 2026, that figure had grown to approximately 1,432 completions. Another 9,501 were described as under construction. Meanwhile, the overall national target has expanded to 55,000 homes, and a formal performance audit by the Australian National Audit Office is expected to be tabled in Parliament this month.

For builders, trades, and community housing providers with skin in this program, understanding where the HAFF actually stands is more useful than the political noise around it.

What the HAFF Is, and What It Promises

The HAFF is not a direct construction fund. It is an investment vehicle managed by the Future Fund Board of Guardians. The $10 billion was credited to the fund on establishment, and from 1 July 2024, $500 million per year is disbursed to Housing Australia to on-lend or grant to eligible recipients, primarily community housing providers (CHPs), for construction of social and affordable housing.

The design means the Commonwealth is not building homes directly. It is providing concessional finance and availability payments to CHPs and, in later rounds, to state governments and private sector partners who take on the building and long-term tenancy management.

The original HAFF target was 20,000 social homes and 20,000 affordable homes over five years. By November 2025, the government had broadened the commitment to 55,000 social and affordable homes by mid-2029, incorporating the $2 billion Social Housing Accelerator and other programs alongside the HAFF.

What Has Been Committed Across Rounds 1 and 2

Housing Australia has published the breakdown of contracted homes across Rounds 1 and 2 as at 30 September 2025. A total of 279 projects were committed, supporting 18,650 homes. Of those:

9,284 are designated social housing dwellings

9,366 are designated affordable housing dwellings

All five largest states have secured at least 1,200 dwellings each. Here is the state-by-state breakdown:

Source: Housing Australia, data as at 30 September 2025.

Victoria leads on affordable dwellings (2,867) and is among the highest for social homes (2,551), reflecting the scale of the Round 2 joint initiative with the Victorian Government, which involves 25 projects funded by $991 million from the Commonwealth and $360 million from Victoria.

NSW is the single largest jurisdiction overall, with 4,850 contracted homes, consistent with its population weighting and the scale of its community housing sector.

Western Australia secured 3,253 homes, the third highest total nationally, despite having a smaller CHP sector, which reflects deliberate targeting by Housing Australia to achieve geographic spread.

The Delivery Question: Committed vs Built

“Australians deserve clarity about what is real progress and what is simply approved funding.” – HIA Managing Director Jocelyn Martin, November 2025

The gap between contracted homes and completed homes is where scrutiny has focused most.

At the point when Round 3 was announced in November 2025, only 889 of the 18,650 contracted homes had been completed. By May 2026, that number had risen to approximately 1,432. A further 9,501 were described as under construction.

HIA Managing Director Jocelyn Martin was direct in her assessment when the Round 3 announcement was made: the government’s headline figures reflected potential funding, not completed dwellings. She also raised a practical point that anyone in construction would recognise: ‘under construction’ can mean anything from a cleared site to a topped-out structure.

The program design partly explains the pace. The HAFF model requires CHPs and other recipients to arrange their own finance, engage builders, navigate planning approvals, and manage construction before claiming availability payments. This is not a turnkey government build program. It relies on the capacity and readiness of the community housing sector and private partners to deliver.

A Canberra Times investigation in April 2026 noted that progress in the ACT masked a bigger national challenge. Of 370 completions nationally by the end of the 2024-25 financial year, all were understood to be turnkey projects, meaning applicants had purchased already-started homes from private developers rather than commissioning new builds from the ground up. That completion mix has since broadened, with community housing providers now delivering projects directly. Evolve Housing completed its first HAFF project in Sunshine North, Victoria in mid-2025, providing 85 households with new homes.

Round 3: The Largest and Most Open Round Yet

Round 3 opened on 30 January 2026 and is structured differently from its predecessors. It is non-competitive and open-ended, meaning applicants can submit proposals at any time while funding remains available, rather than applying within a fixed window.

The round is designed to deliver the remaining 21,350 homes needed to reach the 40,000 HAFF target. It is organised into four streams:

First Nations: $600 million in dedicated funding and concessional loans for projects delivered by or in genuine partnership with First Nations organisations, with 10 per cent of all social housing across relevant streams to be allocated to First Nations households.

Housing Diversity: Homes across regional, rural, and remote Australia, and for diverse cohorts.

States and Territories: Expanded co-investment opportunities allowing state governments to unlock delivery by contributing land, planning powers, and funding.

Partnerships at Scale: Designed to attract large-scale partnerships between CHPs, developers, builders, financiers, and landowners.

Housing Australia has confirmed the target for Round 3 is rolling completions from 2027, with all dwellings complete by June 2029. The Queensland Government’s Q-CHIP HAFF3 Partnership Round, which ran in parallel, has already closed its submission window.

A State-by-State Read for Builders

New South Wales: The largest pipeline nationally. NSW received $610 million from the Social Housing Accelerator separately. Within HAFF, Homes NSW has allocated $140 million to partnership projects with CHPs. NSW expected to attract a significant share of Round 3 contracts given population size and CHP capacity.

Victoria: Round 2 is the most structured state-level collaboration, with the joint Commonwealth and Victorian Government initiative covering 25 projects across Melbourne. Projects must start works by June 2026 and be completed by June 2029. Nine projects have been announced, with more to follow. Builders working in Williamstown, Clifton Hill, Ascot Vale, Ashburton, Bellfield, Albion, Ashwood, Braybrook, and Glenroy are in the delivery pipeline.

Queensland: The Q-CHIP program has served as the state’s delivery mechanism for HAFF, coordinating bids and funding agreements between CHPs, Housing Australia, and the Queensland Department of Housing. With 2,194 homes contracted and the Q-CHIP HAFF3 round now closed, Queensland’s pipeline is established.

Western Australia: Among the stronger performers on affordable homes relative to its CHP sector size, WA has 3,253 contracted homes. The concentration on affordable rentals (2,031 of the total) reflects WA’s market conditions and the structure of local provider bids.

South Australia and Tasmania: Both are smaller in absolute terms but meeting their contracted obligations. Tasmania has 618 homes across Rounds 1 and 2, delivered through Housing Choices Tasmania, Loreto Community Housing, and Homes Tasmania.

ACT: 894 homes contracted, the highest per capita of any jurisdiction. One completed project to date. The ACT pipeline includes large-scale HAFF-funded projects in Belconnen and Phillip. The Canberra Times identified cost pressures as a key challenge, with higher land values and construction costs compressing viability.

The Audit and What It Means

The Australian National Audit Office is conducting a performance audit of the design and delivery of the HAFF, expected to be tabled in Parliament in June 2026. The audit will examine whether Treasury effectively designed the fund and established effective delivery arrangements.

The audit was initiated following correspondence from Senator Andrew Bragg requesting an investigation into HAFF’s financial performance. Auditor-General Caralee McLiesh confirmed the audit was already underway at the time of the request.

Per Capita’s director of the Centre for Equitable Housing, Katrina Raynor, welcomed the review but noted a concern about the concentration of funding in large-scale developers, particularly in early turnkey projects. The risk, in her view, is that scale efficiency can come at the cost of housing diversity and targeted support for higher-needs cohorts.

HIA also welcomed the audit, with one important qualification: oversight must not become another construction bottleneck. In an environment where viability is already stretched and trades are in short supply, additional regulatory friction delays homes.

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GENERAL INFORMATION DISCLAIMER
This article is intended for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, or regulatory advice. Data is sourced from Housing Australia, the Department of the Treasury, and the Australian National Audit Office. Figures reflect the most recently available publicly reported data and may have changed since publication. Builders and industry professionals should seek independent advice before making decisions based on program data or funding availability.

Author: TGB Editorial