This week we saw once again efforts to improve housing affordability by doing anything other than actually building new houses.

The Liberal Party has announced that it will boost the housing supply by not actually building any new homes, but spending $5bn on “critical enabling infrastructure”.

The Opposition leader stated an “elected Coalition Government will commit $5 billion to get these projects moving, unlocking up to 500,000 homes to be delivered more quickly through a mixture of grants and concessional loans”.

It does not take long to realise this is just a $5bn gift to developers disguised as a housing policy.

Rather than spend $5bn building new homes over 5 years (which would almost be double what is currently spent building residential homes by the public sector across Australia), instead the Liberal Party proposes spending $5bn over 5 years to allow property developers to build infrastructure so that they can then sell land for a greater profit.

And what infrastructure? Well, the announcement is wide-ranging – “the roads… the water, the sewerage, the power, the telecommunications”. But while you might think this shows how large the announcement is, actually it just reveals how laughable it is to suggest this will unlock the construction of 500,000 homes over 5 years.

In the last financial year, $43.2bn was spent on infrastructure building roads, water storage and supply, sewerage and drainage, electricity generation transmission and distribution, pipeline and telecommunications. Does anyone really believe an extra $1bn a year is going to “revive the home ownership dream and boost building across Australia.”

No one who has ever examined Australia’s housing problem has thought the solution to increasing construction by 74% was just an extra $1bn a year spent on grants and concessional loans for infrastructure. Little wonder the Liberal Party have not provided the modelling.

Investors and property developers already have the tax system massively geared in their favour. The last thing Australia’s housing market needs is more public money going to those who see housing merely as a way to make a profit.

If a political party wants to increase supply they should commit to building more public sector homes – more homes for those on low incomes and more homes for those who work in public services.

Giving a $5bn subsidy to property developers will only make property developers richer and do nothing to help Australians have a safe and secure place to live.