Shadow Minister for Planning and Land Management Peter Cain says the Labor-Greens Government has a lot to answer for regarding Canberra's rising house prices.

Mr Cain said the unattainable prices for a detached house in the current market are a direct result of the Labor-Greens Government’s preference for high density housing and a failure to deliver single residential blocks going back several years.

In response to Mr Cain’s questioning in today’s Estimates hearings, the Minister for Housing was unable to provide an explanation that made sense.

“Recent land release ballots have had upward of 7,500 individuals register to purchase around 100 blocks of land,” said Mr Cain.

“Demand for single residential blocks is soaring, yet, according to their own figures, the Labor Greens Government has only directly sold 4 in 10 of the target number of blocks for detached houses since 2018. This is complete incompetence.

“The Labor-Greens Government has set a target of 4,171 for single block sales in the new Indicative Land Release Program to 2026. They’d have to develop, deliver and sell over 800 blocks per year to meet this target, and going off past performance they’re very unlikely to actually keep this promise.

“There are so few choices in the housing market, and the dream of a home with a backyard is now all but unattainable for first home buyers thanks to the Labor Greens Government,” Mr Cain concluded.