WA’s housing crisis is getting worse, with demand far exceeding our supply of homes and the state facing a shortfall of over 33,000 homes over the next five years.

After nearly eight years in power, the gap between homes built and homes needed is only getting wider under Labor, especially in regional WA.

With WA’s reliance on regional agriculture, mining, and pastoral industries - housing is increasingly in demand and the current shortages are compromising the functionality of industry and important community services.

This shortage has placed increasing pressure on rentals, sending rents soaring up by 9 per cent over the last year and leaving regional rental vacancy rates sitting below one per cent.

Without sustainable and affordable housing, regional towns face a risk of not being able to fill vital services such as teachers, childcare workers, healthcare professionals and other necessary workers.

This lack of supply also pushes prices up, making it harder for individuals and families, especially those already struggling through the current cost of living crisis.

The WA Liberals know regional WA communities face dire circumstances when there is inadequate access to housing.

Western Australia’s regional housing crisis is a direct result of the Cook Labor Government’s inaction, ineffective band-aid measures, and lack of support for regional hubs, creating problems for our regional communities going forward.

WA needs a plan to tackle the current housing crisis effectively, ensuring we can address the rising cost of a home and deliver enough housing availability to meet our growing regional population into the future.

Only a WA Liberal Government will provide it.

The WA Liberals believe boosting housing supply in our regions is essential to the future prosperity and industry diversity in our state.

While our Housing Infrastructure Investment Fund (HIIF) will support housing across the whole state, regional WA has specific challenges that require targeted solutions.

WA’s regions are the economic powerhouse of Western Australia, yet the construction costs of housing in regional areas are significantly higher than in metro Perth.

Delivering housing choice and infrastructure support tailored to regional areas will ensure these communities have long-term solutions to these difficulties and will provide a stable economic foundation for the future of regional WA.

A WA Liberal Government will commit $100 million to create the Regional Housing Infrastructure Program, a regions-only program under the HIIF.

This adds to the $300 million for the ‘Enabling Infrastructure Program’ and $200 million for the ‘Apartment Support Program’ within the HIIF.

This regionally-focused fund will aid regional shires in covering the costs associated with headworks and other infrastructure cost barriers.

The first set of funding under this regional fund will unlock up to 6,000 residences for the Albany community, helping to support private sector development in this growing regional hub.

This will target land accessibility and other contributing infrastructure barriers to development, such as slow progress on connecting sewerage, electricity, phone lines, and gas.

Western Australians living in regional areas deserve a government committed to ensuring that no community in WA gets left behind in this housing crisis.

Only the WA Liberal Party is committed to building more homes and unlocking more land development for the future of our state, across our entire state.