Could 3D house-printing be the answer to regional Australia's housing crisis?

With homes increasingly unavailable and unaffordable in regional Australia, one regional city is considering investing in a trial to 3D-print houses locally, hoping it could be a game-changing innovation. 

Houses are being 3D printed internationally, including in the US, Italy and Netherlands, and in January, Australia's first 3D-printed house was constructed in Melbourne in just three days.

A western NSW council is now considering whether the technology is viable enough to help overcome Australia's worker and material shortages, with the potential for houses to be constructed quickly, more cost-efficiently and in a more environmentally friendly manner.

Dubbo Regional councillor Matt Wright was confident it could revolutionise the Australian property market.

"It's a little bit out there but 3D printing has been around since the early '80s," he said.

"We're starting to see 3D printing emerge through the automotive industry with printing of cars, medical for operation purposes. It's pretty much got unlimited potential.

"We're now starting to see larger-scale projects like housing emerging in a number of countries around the world.

The councillor put forward a notice of motion proposing council sets aside up to four residential blocks from the newest stage of the local Keswick residential land release for a printing trial.

He said the speed of building a 3D-printed house was one of many benefits. 

"There are a number of companies around the world suggesting they could have a house printed within a few days," Mr Wright said.

"That's massive cost savings. I know some people are concerned that this would put some people out of jobs but you still need plumbers, electricians, plasterers to work on these houses depending on the finish you'd like."

The University of New South Wales has also been working alongside architects to create its own software to ideally 3D print houses.

The motion will be voted on by the council tonight.