One Nation’s property and migration proposals are attracting closer attention as the party gains support in national polling and seeks to position itself as a solution to Australia’s housing affordability crisis.
The party has proposed capping annual visas at 130,000, restricting home ownership by non-citizens and limiting negative gearing to two investment properties. While supporters argue the measures would ease pressure on housing demand, questions remain about their impact on house prices, rental markets and permanent residents who live and work in Australia.
One Nation’s housing policy would cap annual visas at 130,000, restrict home ownership by non-citizens and retain negative gearing for up to two investment properties, raising questions about how the proposals would affect permanent residents and the Australian property market.
The party has linked its migration policy directly to housing affordability, arguing that population growth has increased pressure on rents, house prices and infrastructure.
“Cut immigration by over 570,000 people from current Labor levels by capping visas at 130,000 per year to ease pressure on housing, wages, and infrastructure,” the party states on its website.
The claim requires careful reading because visa grants, migrant arrivals and net overseas migration measure different parts of Australia’s migration system.
Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows net overseas migration fell to 306,000 in 2024–25, down from 429,000 a year earlier. Migrant arrivals totalled 568,000, while departures reached 263,000.
A cap of 130,000 visas would therefore represent a different measure from net overseas migration. Its effect would depend on which visa categories were included, whether temporary visas were captured and how departures were treated.
The policy has gained attention as housing affordability becomes a central political issue. National house prices recorded no growth in May, with falls in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra offset by continued gains in Perth, Darwin, Brisbane, Hobart, Adelaide and regional markets.
Lower migration could reduce demand for rental properties and entry-level homes over time, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne, where many new arrivals settle. The size of the effect would depend on construction rates, interest rates, unemployment and the speed at which any new settings were introduced.
One Nation has also proposed restrictions on property ownership by people who are not Australian citizens.
“Those foreign citizens who currently own homes will be given two years to sell up,” Pauline Hanson said.
“I don’t believe that foreigners should own any housing in Australia or up our farming land.”
The party’s published wording refers to stopping property sales to non-residents and non-citizens. If applied literally, the policy would extend beyond overseas investors and temporary residents. It could also capture permanent residents who live, work and pay taxes in Australia but have not taken citizenship.
One Nation has not detailed whether permanent residents would receive an exemption.
The distinction matters because permanent residents are currently treated differently from foreign buyers under Australia’s property rules. They generally have fewer restrictions when purchasing established homes than temporary visa holders and overseas investors.
Many Indian-Australian families include permanent residents who have lived in Australia for years before applying for citizenship. Some decide to retain Indian citizenship because India does not permit dual citizenship in the same way Australia does.
Under the wording currently available, those families could face uncertainty over whether a permanent resident would be able to buy a home, keep an existing property or be required to sell within two years.
The scale of any forced-sale effect would depend on the final design of the policy and the number of properties captured. Foreign buyers represent a relatively small share of total residential transactions, meaning a ban targeting overseas investors alone would be unlikely to transform the national market.
The impact could be larger if the definition extended to permanent residents.
The proposal comes as permanent residency is already the subject of a separate political dispute over welfare access.
The Coalition has proposed restricting some welfare payments for future permanent residents while protecting people already in Australia through grandfathering arrangements. Opposition Leader Angus Taylor has argued that citizenship should remain an important threshold for parts of the social safety net.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has criticised that approach.
“The Liberal Party’s proposal to cut off long-term permanent residents from the aged pension is harmful.”
“It targets older Australians from multicultural communities. Hard-working Australians that have contributed decades to our great state.”
“As Premier, I’ll continue to fight against these divisive policies – and stand for giving every Victorian a fair go.”
The welfare and housing proposals come from different parties and would operate differently. Both, however, have placed the rights of permanent residents under closer scrutiny.
One Nation’s third housing measure concerns negative gearing.
“One Nation supports negative gearing being allowed on two homes for everyone,” Hanson posted.
The policy would retain the tax concession for investors with one or two properties while limiting its use across larger portfolios.
Around 94 per cent of Australian property investors hold one or two dwellings, meaning the immediate effect would be concentrated among people with larger property holdings. The policy could reduce demand from some investors, though the impact on house prices and rents would depend on how existing properties were treated and whether the rules applied retrospectively.
The combined effect of the One Nation platform would depend on the interaction between its three main measures.
A lower visa cap could reduce rental demand and slow population growth. Restrictions on non-citizen ownership could add properties to the market if existing owners were required to sell. A negative gearing cap could limit demand from investors with larger portfolios.
These measures could place downward pressure on prices in some parts of the market, particularly apartments, rental-heavy suburbs and entry-level areas in major cities. The effect would not be uniform across the country.
Perth, Darwin, Brisbane and Adelaide continue to record price growth despite the national slowdown. Construction rates, local employment conditions and housing shortages would remain important drivers in each city.
The key issue for permanent residents is whether One Nation intends to distinguish between people living overseas and people who have built their lives in Australia without becoming citizens.
Until that detail is clarified, the policy leaves an important question unanswered: would a permanent resident who has lived, worked and paid taxes in Australia for years still be treated as a foreign property owner?
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