Australia will fall 90,000 homes short of this year’s national target of 240,000 new dwellings, affordable housing industry figures have said after new housing starts for 2023 came in at the lowest level in 11 years.

Dwelling commencements over the last calendar year undershot the national cabinet total by almost one-third, falling to 163,836, Australian Bureau of Statistics figures showed on Wednesday. This was the weakest since the 2012 total of 153,580.