Regional Capitals Australia (RCA) has today welcomed new research showing two in five people living in Australian state capitals were considering a move to a regional area.
The research, commissioned by the Regional Australia Institute (RAI), found the number of people looking to relocate to the regions had doubled to 40% over the past 18 months. Its release coincides with the launch yesterday of the RAI’s Year 2 Progress Report on the Regionalisation of Australia.
Deputy Chair of RCA, Mayor Peter Carter, said the findings were welcome news for Australia’s regional capitals, but housing supply was a bottleneck that needed urgent action.
“Regional capitals are eager to grow and this report today confirms what all our member cities already know: regional capitals really are the best place to be,” Mayor Carter said.
“It is easy to understand why people are considering a move from congested, crowded metropolitan areas to regional cities,” Mayor Carter said.
“All of our members are 10-minute cities, meaning you can anywhere in less time than it takes you to order a coffee in the metropolitan capitals,” Mayor Carter said.
“However, the ability to make the most of this mood for change cannot be realised if we don’t get in front of our housing needs,” Mayor Carter said.
According to Domain Research, the residential vacancy rate in regional Australia was 0.8% in February this year, while a recent survey by RCA found 87% of its members agreed a critical bottle neck in the housing market was the lack of development-ready land.
RCA has welcomed announcements from both the Federal Government and Coalition where housing enabling funds to support housing developments can begin the task of getting more families into homes.
RCA is also advocating for a Housing Innovation Program that would fast-track innovative approaches to housing projects that can get more diverse housing options into our member cities, improving supply chain issues and affordability of housing in regional capitals.
“Regional migration is good for the whole nation: it eases population pressures in the metropolitan areas and builds demand for services and infrastructure in the regions,” Mayor Carter said.
“Housing availability is the biggest roadblock to our growth and holds back people from making a sea or tree change,” Mayor Carter said.
“We want to work with governments to ensure we can accommodate everyone who decides to make a new life in our regional cities,” he said.
“We need to act quickly as a nation or this opportunity will be lost.”
Mayor Carter said another key element of increasing the supply of houses was to address the skills shortage.
“Regional cities are asking for more skilled migrants and greater investment, scholarships and subsidies for in-demand trades and professions. Prospective students in regional cities are also looking for vocational training close to home,” Mayor Carter said.
Mayor Carter also said the cost-effectiveness of social and affordable housing would be increased if GST was removed from council housing investments.
“Government investment in boosting housing supply in regional centres is a win-win situation: our regional cities grow and prosper, while life in the state capitals becomes a little less stressful and frantic for those who live there,” he concluded.
To read RCA’s 2025-26 Pre-budget Submission, click here
1 Domain.com.au Research Vacancy rates: February 2024
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City dwellers eye a better life in Regional Capitals
