The ACT Government will buy 243 hectares of former CSIRO land at Ginninderra for $385 million, clearing the way for a new suburb of more than 3,000 homes, the ACT and Commonwealth governments announced on Saturday.

Chief Minister Andrew Barr said:“This is one of the most significant land acquisitions in the ACT’s history and will support our ambitious housing targets, including the delivery of more affordable and community housing.”

The government aims to build 30,000 new homes by the end of 2030, including 5,000 additional public, community and affordable housing homes.

“The purchase of Ginninderra East from CSIRO will go a long way toward delivering on that commitment and will mean more homes for Canberrans,” housing minister and Acting Chief Minister Yvette Berry MLA said.

Canberra Liberals: Development falls short of site’s potential

Opposition Leader Mark Parton MLA said the 3,000 homes were “barely a third of the site’s potential”: a 2021 scoping study had suggested the broader site could accommodate around 8,000 homes.

“We started this conversation talking about a new town. We have ended up with one suburb. In this Labor Government’s hands, the plan shrank faster than its housing supply.”

The Canberra Liberals questioned whether any homes would be completed on the site by 2030, claiming the ACT Government had a poor record of releasing land.

“The Housing Industry Association has said it plainly: when the Government holds all the land and prices it beyond what people can pay, the market cannot function,” Mr Parton said. “This is a Government with a history of sitting on land to keep supply tight, prices high and its own balance sheet healthy. Canberrans are right to worry this site could be banked, not built.”

Liberals Senate candidate Nick Tyrrell said the Commonwealth had first flagged selling the land in 2015.

“A child born when these talks began is now 10 years old, and not a single brick has been laid,” Mr Tyrrell said. “By the Government’s own 2030 deadline, it will be 15 years since this started.”

Mr Tyrrell called on both governments to publish a delivery timetable.

“The test now is whether these homes get built, or whether this becomes another patch of Canberra land propping up a balance sheet while young families are locked out of the market for the type of home they want,” Mr Tyrrell said.

ACT Greens: 10 per cent public housing

The Ginninderra East development is expected to include about 15 per cent affordable, community and public housing, equivalent to roughly 450 dwellings.

The ACT Greens called for at least 10 per cent of the development to be reserved specifically for public housing.

Greens housing spokesperson Rebecca Vassarotti MLA said that homes described as “affordable” could still consume nearly a third of a median-income renter’s pay — in the 1990s, that number was only 15 per cent.

“For Canberrans doing it tough, rent is too damn high,” Ms Vassarotti said. “This government all too often outsources responsibility for delivering on cheaper rentals for everyday people, which is exactly why their over-reliance on affordable housing as a fix to the housing crisis is already failing thousands of Canberrans.

“Working people in this city need affordability by more than just name and spin. They deserve real affordable public housing where the rent you pay is directly attached to the income you earn — not attached to an out-of-reach market figure.

“If this government is serious about standing up for the working people who keep Canberra running, then this CSIRO land-deal is a critical test.”

Greens leader Jo Clay MLA said the success of Ginninderra East should ultimately be measured by who is able to live there.

“The real test isn’t how many homes are built, but whether or not a single parent or someone who has spent years waiting for public housing can afford to call this community home.”

The ACT Government said it would retain its policy of setting aside 15 per cent for a combination of public, community and affordable housing.

“This is longstanding government policy for the Government land release program,” a spokesperson said. “This means people on all different incomes will be able to call these suburbs home.”

Rents for affordable housing are set at 75 per cent of market rates, can generally rise only once a year, and are capped at Canberra rents inflation plus 10 per cent, the spokesperson said. Minimum and award wage rises for lower-paid workers rose faster than inflation, by 3.5 per cent in 2025 and 4.75 per cent in 2026.

Industry groups

Industry groups welcomed the acquisition, but urged the government to release the land and begin construction quickly.

Master Builders ACT chief executive Anna Neelagama said the project would create work for local builders, subcontractors and suppliers, but warned that “homes are needed now”.

Property Council ACT and Capital Region executive director Ashlee Berry said the site was “exactly the type of well-located urban land that should be brought forward to support new housing, including social and affordable homes” — but buying the land was only the first step.

She said the government must set out when homes would be built and how roads, public transport and other services would be provided.

“The challenge now is turning this land acquisition into housing outcomes,” Ms Berry said.