Building industry groups are calling for housing to be considered a core infrastructure priority for the federal Government and want up to $20 billion in funding for the sector.

Master Builders Australia chief executive Denita Wawn told a Senate hearing, the proposed Housing Australia Future Fund is not ambitious enough and should consider doubling its proposed capital investment.

The $10 billion fund is designed to pay for 30,000 new social and affordable housing properties over five years.

“Finding solutions to the issue of affordable housing is imperative as it poses one of the country’s biggest challenges, and we must work together to address it,” Wawn says.

According to figures from Master Builders Australia in the next five years new housing will fall short of the 200,000 homes needed annually until 2026/2027.

“However, to meet the additional 800,000 dwellings needed by 2035, the size of the fund’s capital investment should be expanded from $10 billion to $20 billion,” she says.