A potential way forward for affordable housing has been unveiled in two of the most remote communities of the Western Plains at the same time a new report has suggested Australia will miss a target of 1.2 million new homes by 2029 on the current path.

Two remote communities outside of Bourke - Louth, population just 43, and Enngonia, population 146 - have received new teacher housing, all delivered on the back of a truck. 

In Louth, the new 2-bedroom van home will provide short-term accommodation for visiting staff such as relief teachers and psychologists.

In Enngonia, after many months of planning, a new three-bedroom house was established in just 30 days. 

Enngonia. Image: SBS.

Enngonia's unique new dwelling was crafted within the walls of Glen Innes Jail before being divided into three sections and transported on trucks to its new home almost an hour north of Bourke. 

Now fully assembled, the modular house will provide housing for teachers at Enngonia Public School.

The mobile unit is the first of its kind commissioned by the department and is being piloted as a short-term housing solution. 

If successful, the model could be considered for wider application in remote areas where there is insufficient accommodation and builders - and materials - are hard to come by.

“A lack of available housing for teachers in some of our rural towns can make it difficult to attract teachers to their school,” said Dean White, executive director of the Regional, Rural and Remote Implementation unit. 

“This is something our schools and education partners have told us is a priority.” 

Crucial new report paints dire housing shortfall across Australia

This swift, low-cost model may need to be broadened to other sectors and other parts of the nation with a new report painting an even bleaker picture about the nation’s housing stocks.

The independent National Housing Supply and Affordability Council launched its inaugural report last Friday May 3.

Parliament House, Canberra. Image: The Mandarin

By the 2028/29 financial year, Australia will still be 39,000 dwellings short, the report predicts.

Australia's housing market is "far from healthy", the council's chair Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz wrote in the report's foreword.

"An unhealthy market has periods of rampant price growth, is unable to produce enough supply to meet demand, is overly reliant on an unsupported private market to address most of Australia's shelter needs, creates scarcity and cannot match the rich expanse of demand with a breadth of housing choice," she said.

“The cost of housing construction and supply constraints in regional and remote areas is generally higher than in major cities,” the report asserts.

“Some rural and remote regions experience dwelling construction costs that prohibit entry into the market without government intervention”.

The council recommends governments focus on 10 areas including investing in social housing, reducing homelessness, improving the rental market, bolstering planning systems and ensuring the tax system supports supply.

The latest Corelogic report shows home values across regional NSW have increased by an average of 4.3% in the 12 months to the end of April 2024, and have leapt a massive 47.8% since the onset of COVID.