Login
iscover
Will Australia be able to meet its ambitious new housing goals? The latest figures paint a worrying picture.
Commenting on the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) latest building approval figures for July, Urban Taskforce CEO, Tom Forrest, said that there appears to be a “huge chasm between current approvals and what is required under the revised National Housing Accord”.
Australia’s states and territories have signed on to the goal of building 1 million residential dwellings in five years beginning in July 2024, before upping the target after a recent meeting of the national cabinet to 1.2 million homes.
In NSW, the ground yet to be covered to ramp up building to the pace required has been put into sharp focus, following ABS’ recent data release.
To achieve its share of the National Housing Accord’s revised targets for completed new homes, NSW needs to see roughly 90,000 approvals a year in order to get 76,000 new homes completed in a calendar period. Breaking the figure down into months, 90,000 new dwelling approvals equate to 7,500 approvals each month.
As the ABS revealed, in July 2023, NSW approved less than half of that number, with 3,361 granted the go-ahead over the course of the month.
Mr Forrest highlighted that there’s limited time for the industry to ramp up production, and that the figures put the state’s capacity to meet these needs in a concerning light.
“Today’s ABS data shows that the NSW planning system is a very long way from getting close to this. We have 10 months to go before the NSW Housing Accord targets of 76,000 completed homes per year kick in. Every day counts if we are to see these national cabinet targets met,” Mr Forrest said.
He opined that government discourse is needed to be met with action to speed up the approvals process.
“Now is the time for bold reform with a clear focus on housing supply. It’s time to match the welcome political rhetoric on housing supply and higher targets with action. The numbers don’t lie – we are going backwards, and the industry’s confidence is waning,” he said.
The Urban Taskforce’s comments come after the Housing Industry Association (HIA) noted that while it considers the updated target to be ambitious but achievable, a skills shortage poses a major risk to the ambitious home building goal.
“Skills shortages in the industry are likely to be one of the greatest challenges,” said HIA managing director, Jocelyn Martin.
“Initiatives to attract more females to the sector, incentives to make mature-age apprentices more affordable, and mentoring programs to retain apprentices are all important to support the need for skills,” Ms Martin said.
Though she pointed out that a number of other factors would impact the building industry’s ability to step up production.
“The home building industry has the capacity to build the homes needed, but it requires access to land at a lower cost, reduced taxes and stable and reliable policy settings,” she noted.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Juliet Helmke
Based in Sydney, Juliet Helmke has a broad range of reporting and editorial experience across the areas of business, technology, entertainment and the arts. She was formerly Senior Editor at The New York Observer.
Newsletter
