Canberra’s housing market is driving essential workers away

Canberra’s housing market is forcing single police officers and childcare workers out even as other essential workers struggle to find a place.

The finding came from a new Property Council of Australia survey of 12 suburbs across the ACT region.

It wants more done to boost new housing but the call came as the ACT Government announced a new mandatory developer licensing scheme.

Council’s ACT Region Executive Director Ashlee Berry says the findings come from new research survey of 12 targeted suburbs, tracking affordability for six different households on single and dual incomes.

“The research confirms what we might have expected – detached houses are now unaffordable for every type of essential worker household modelled including dual-income households with above-average earnings,” she says.

“In many cases, renting is also beyond reach, leaving workers with little choice but to face housing stress, move further away from their jobs or leave the region altogether.”

It found that for a childcare worker on a single income of $58,869, ownership is “beyond hope everywhere” while a unit rental would take 41% of their salary, well above the accepted benchmark for rental distress.

A single police officer on a salary of $91,346 would also find buying a house or unit is beyond their reach” as is renting a house with limited affordable units.

ACT SURVEY FINDINGS

1. Since 2007, house prices have grown on average
  by more than 115% while wages rose by 84%.
2. Median house prices are now $1 million-plus.
3. Units now cost close to $600,000.

The council says the report used globally accepted affordability benchmarks: housing costs are deemed to be unaffordable when it costs more than 30% of household income.

“Our essential workers are being priced out of the market,” Berry says.

“Even a dual-income household of an ambulance officer and nurse, earning nearly $180,000 a year, can’t afford a detached home in Canberra.

“For single-income workers like childcare staff, the situation is dire. Renting a modest two-bedroom unit would still consume more than 40% of their income – well above the 30 per cent of income affordability benchmark.”

“These are the people who keep our city safe, healthy and functioning. They deserve the chance to live near their work, not be forced into rental stress or long commutes.”

“We need urgent action – more land supply, faster approvals, fairer taxes and reforms – to boost housing supply and deliver homes that essential workers can actually afford.”

The Council is using the report to back its calls for greater reforms such as planning changes, review the land release pipeline, provide incentives for essential worker housing and putting a moratorium on new taxes and charges.

“If the people who keep our city running can’t afford to live here, Canberra’s liveability and future are in real danger,” Berry says.

CANBERRA SUBURBS SURVEYED

For a teacher with a combined household income of $167,456, home ownership is unaffordable in all suburbs and beyond reach in half, while units are affordable in most suburbs (particularly in older areas). House and unit rentals are affordable although houses are right on the 30% stress line.
For a police officer on a single income of $91,346, buying a house is beyond reach in all suburbs, especially in Curtin, Narrabundah and Crace, while units are unaffordable. House rentals are unaffordable with units affordable in four suburbs.
For an ambulance officer with a combined household income of $178,457, buying a house is unaffordable in all suburbs and beyond reach in four suburbs while units are affordable in most suburbs (especially for older ones). For renting, houses are affordable but rent will be on the 30% threshold for distress.
For a public servant on a single income of $76,223, home/unit ownership is beyond their reach while rentals (houses and units) are unaffordable in all 12 suburbs.
For an electrician with a combined household income of $131,189, buying is beyond reach in eight to 11 suburbs. House rentals are affordable in 10 suburbs and units are affordable everywhere.
For a childcare worker with a single income of $58,869, home or unit ownership is ‘beyond hope everywhere’, a house rental remains ‘beyond reach’ in almost all suburbs and a unit rental requires 41% of income, well above the distress benchmark.

The Property Council says a third of the cost of new homes in Canberra comprises of taxes, charges and compliance cost, and warns that will rise under new developer licensing laws.

“Every extra dollar of red tape is a dollar added to the price of a new home,” Berry says.

The Council wants the ACT Government to:

Encourage more essential worker housing with targeted tax breaks and charge remissions.
Streamline planning approvals.
Implement missing middle reforms to allow more townhouses, duplexes and mid-rise apartments in well-located suburbs.
Pause housing taxes and charges during the Housing Accord period.

“Without bold reforms, costs will keep climbing and essential workers will be forced further away or out of Canberra altogether,” Berry says.

Renting in Victoria — Ownership and renting in the ACT is “becoming unaffordable for essential workers”.

CANBERRA LICENSING CHANGE

Meanwhile, the ACT Government late last month said that from October 2026, individuals and companies wanting to build more than three residential dwellings need to hold a property developer licence.

Licence applications will open from October 1, 2025, as part of a one-year transition period ahead of the mandatory requirement.

The government also says fees for developers under the new scheme include a one-off for the application, an annual term fee and an activity-based fee based on the number of dwellings.

Registered community housing providers will be exempt from the activity fee to build new homes with below-market rents.

Canberra-based Advanced Structural Designs director Mal Wilson believes the change will improve the industry.

“Developers will suggest that the problems are outside of their control but I’ve personally seen developer direct engineers to remove set downs in bathrooms and balconies and make other changes that save money to the detriment of the quality of construction,” he says.

“Having developers share some responsibility will change the industry for the better, of that, I am certain.”

He also dismissed concerns that developers will leave the industry in droves because of the change.

“Generally, I do not think that is correct. I think a few will but they will be the ones we will not miss,” he says.

“Developers are decent people who want to do the right thing but they are stymied because that is not how the game works.

“At the moment, the cheapest build per square meter is the only game in town and that has to change.”