Housing

Where we stand

One Nation Tasmania believes that if you work hard, save and do the right thing, owning a home should not be an impossible dream. Home ownership gives people independence, security and a stake in their community. Government should help create the conditions for Tasmanians to build that future, not stand in their way.

Solving the housing crisis requires action on both sides of the equation. Tasmania needs more homes, but Australia must also stop increasing its population faster than housing and essential infrastructure can be delivered. The Federal Government controls immigration, and One Nation will continue to demand that migration be reduced until housing, roads, hospitals, schools and water infrastructure catch up.

We reject the endless cycle of grants, subsidies, taxes and new regulations that simply gives people more money to compete for the same limited number of homes. Government should concentrate on increasing supply, reducing avoidable demand, cutting unnecessary costs and red tape, releasing suitable land, respecting property rights and making better use of the homes taxpayers already own.

Taxpayer-funded housing policy should put Tasmanians first. Public land, public housing and government assistance should primarily serve people who live, work and have built their lives in this state. Tasmania’s own migration programs should be limited, transparent and tightly targeted to genuine skills shortages that cannot be filled locally.

The issues

For too many Tasmanians, the dream of owning a home is slipping further out of reach. Young people are struggling to buy, families are competing for scarce rentals, workers cannot always afford to live near their jobs, and vulnerable Tasmanians are waiting far too long for public housing.

In April 2026, Homes Tasmania reported more than 5,500 applications on the social housing register, with priority applicants waiting an average of 89 weeks. Yet in March 2026, 239 public housing properties were sitting vacant. That is a system that is failing both the people trying to get ahead and those who genuinely need help.

This crisis is being driven from both directions. On the supply side, rising construction costs, infrastructure charges, workforce shortages, unnecessary regulation, planning uncertainty and poor management of government housing have made homes slower and more expensive to deliver.

On the demand side, successive Federal Governments have pursued population growth without first ensuring that enough housing and infrastructure are available. Tasmania cannot set the national immigration intake, but it should not remain silent about the consequences or expand its own migration programs without regard to housing and service capacity.

Governments keep announcing targets, grants and schemes while the basic imbalance remains. Tasmania needs more homes that ordinary Tasmanians can afford, fewer barriers to building them and population settings that allow housing and infrastructure to catch up.

Our priorities

1. Let Tasmanians build. Remove unnecessary barriers that stop families from making sensible use of land they already own, including modest secondary, modular, prefabricated and other suitable housing, while retaining genuine health and safety standards.
2. Cut the cost, red tape and delay. Make Tasmania's planning, building and plumbing system clearer and more consistent, reduce avoidable government-imposed costs and stop compliant homes being trapped in unnecessary bureaucracy.
3. Bring public homes back into use. Make better use of the homes and land taxpayers already own, reduce the time properties sit vacant and demand transparent reporting about the actual number of usable social homes being delivered.
4. Use public land to build Tasmanian futures. Put suitable Crown and state-owned land to productive use, with infrastructure planned alongside housing and a clear focus on helping Tasmanian owner-occupiers, first-home buyers and local workers rather than speculation.
5. Put home ownership back within reach. Support pathways that help Tasmanians buy or build modest homes while ensuring government assistance adds to housing supply rather than simply giving buyers more money to compete for the same properties.
6. Protect renters, owners and property rights. Maintain fair and enforceable rules that protect responsible renters and responsible property owners, while rejecting approaches that punish lawful ownership without creating a single additional home.
7. Build a housing safety net that works. Ensure crisis, community and social housing is well maintained, targeted to genuine need and better matched to Tasmania's changing households, including older people, people requiring accessible housing and workers needed in regional communities.

What this means for Tasmanians

For young Tasmanians: a better chance to buy or build a first home, put down roots and raise a family without being forced to leave the state.

For families and renters: more homes to choose from and less pressure in a rental market where scarcity has driven up competition and insecurity.

For builders, owner-builders and property owners: clearer rules, fewer unnecessary costs and a government that respects your right to build, invest in and lawfully use your own property.

For older and vulnerable Tasmanians: more suitable housing choices and a public housing system that functions as a dependable safety net when it is genuinely needed.

For workers and regional communities: a better chance for teachers, nurses, tradies, hospitality workers and other essential employees to find a home near the communities that need them.

Tasmania should be a place where people can build a home and a future, not a place they are forced to leave because housing has become too scarce, too costly and too difficult to build.

What comes next

This baseline policy sets out where One Nation Tasmania stands on housing and planning and the priorities that will guide our detailed policy work.

We will develop specific commitments through community consultation, engagement with builders and trades, property owners and renters, housing providers, councils and industry, and careful assessment of what has worked elsewhere. Further policy releases will follow as this work progresses.

If you are trying to buy, build or rent a home, work in the housing industry, or have practical experience with Tasmania’s housing system, we want to hear from you.