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Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny has given the green light to an amended plan to build 83 apartments in the final stage of Balmoral Quay at Rippleside.

Construction of the final stage of Rippleside’s Balmoral Quay project is expected to start in 2027 after the state government greenlit the seven-storey apartment development overlooking Geelong’s waterfront.

Victorian Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny approved the stage five plans for the former Rippleside shipyard site despite fierce opposition from local residents.

With the minister’s endorsement, the developer is proceeding to finalise council-endorsed drawings and costings in the first half of next year, with a target of commencing off-the-plan sales in August 2026 and construction to begin in late 2027, with dwellings to reach settlement by mid 2029.

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The development group, led by Gersh Investment Partners’ Theo Axarlis, submitted the revised plans in July this year via the state government’s fast track development facilitation program that bypasses council.

“We are delighted the Minister for Planning Sonya Kilkenny has approved Amendment C480ggee to the Greater Geelong Planning Scheme, giving the green light for the final stage of Balmoral Quay,” Mr Axarlis said.

“This final stage will bring architect-designed, medium density living to an already remarkable bayside community.”

Delighted: Balmoral Quay development director Theo Axarlis.

Mr Axarlis said the project establishes market confidence in apartment living, a housing format increasingly important in achieving the city’s growth and revitalisation objectives.

“Our $300 million investment in Balmoral Quay, alongside other projects across the region, has been driven by our confidence in the Geelong market and our commitment to delivering high-quality, well located homes that contribute to Geelong’s enviable lifestyle.”

The Geelong council last year rejected amended plans for the 83 apartment building, that one councillor labelled “greedy growth”.

The council had referred the previous application to an independent panel in December 2023, only to ignore its advice to approve the project in July 2024.

Amended plans for 83 apartments in a seven-storey building at Balmoral Quay were approved by the state government.

Mr Axarlis said the revised plans factored in community feedback and planning panel recommendations by reducing building bulk along Balmoral Crescent and enhancing southeastern view lines.

The original stage five plans were amended after the development of three townhouses, including a pair of four-level residences facing Balmoral Crescent and another dwelling built down to the base of the cliff, were constructed with council approval on a neighbouring property.

The four residential stages comprising 78 townhouses and 26 apartments and a floating marina is 85 per cent sold, with 15 two-, three- and four-bedroom townhouses on the market, priced from $1.4m to $3.6m.

The dwellings offer open-plan living, granite benchtops, expansive terraces, some with rooftop terraces and internal lifts.

The post New details revealed for $300m Rippleside project appeared first on realestate.com.au.

The Albanese government kicked off a National Housing Accord to address Australia’s housing crisis a year ago. It’s not going well. Picture: Toby Zerna.

Australia’s efforts to build its way out of a housing crisis are going backwards in huge chunks of the nation amid warnings state government policies are putting up roadblocks.

While the country’s number of new home approvals rose last year, at the suburban level almost half the country went backwards with approvals declining compared to the year before.

It’s a concerning trend as the nation struggles with a National Housing Accord plan to build 1.2 million homes between July 1, 2024, and June 30, 2029.

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Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows there were 186,000 approvals for new homes across the country in the 2024-2025 financial year, the first 12 months of the Accord’s timeline.

To hit the 1.2 million homes target the country needed to achieve 240,000 a year.

The data shows while there were upticks compared to the prior financial year, the nation’s two biggest building states only had modest increases.

Victoria approved 56,500 new homes, outpacing the 49,000 given the green light in NSW, and together they are the nation’s biggest builders.

Both states’ governments are driving policies to increase apartment and townhouse construction, despite the majority of the biggest numbers of new home approvals coming from new housing estates in all of the nation’s major capitals.

WHERE NEW HOME APPROVALS ARE CRASHING IN NSW

WHAT BUILDING APPROVALS ARE DOING IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA

THE QUEENSLAND REGIONS WHERE NEW BUILDS ARE BOOMING

Victoria’s situation is seen as particularly problematic, as while its approval numbers rose by about 5000 from a year ago, the state had more suburbs record a decline in new homes being planned for them than those that increased the figure.

In effect 20 suburbs were responsible for almost two thirds of the state’s increased approvals.

Apartment hot spots had the biggest jumps, including Docklands which posted the biggest increase, with a 1238 home jump over the past year, followed by Southbank at 940 and South Yarra with an 805 new home approvals increase.

The 20 top performing areas have increased approvals by 9773, the vast majority of the 15,819 increase across the 238 areas reporting an uptick.

Suburbs that host new housing estates are consistently posting some of the biggest numbers of new housing approvals around the nation.

But 252 of the state’s 521 level 2 statistical areas, a region roughly analogous with a suburb, went backwards or were flat in that time — with approvals for new homes dropping a combined 11,076.

Another 30 areas had no change, leaving the vast majority of the growth to come from just 20 which recorded surges in excess of 200 new homes.

The problem is being replicated in NSW, where 328 areas recorded a decrease in new housing approvals in the past financial year, compared to 316 where numbers rose.

In Queensland there were more areas with increasing numbers of home approvals compared to the prior financial year, with 313 SA2s on the increase list against 236 on the decrease.

But a section of the Gold Coast recorded a 1155 new home approval decrease, the biggest downshift in the country. The state’s biggest increase for a single area was Brisbane city, up 635.

South Australia had one of the better overall performances with 109 of its suburbs recording an increase in approvals, and just 68 declining.

Nationally, there were 1242 areas that notched an increase in approvals, compared to 1216 that lost ground.

In more than 1200 suburbs the number of new housing approvals actually fell compared to the year before, during the first 12 months of the National Housing Accord.

The data also shows the most consistent delivery of new homes has been coming from new housing estates on the city’s fringes, with Victorian areas dominating the busiest new housing spots around the country.

Apartment-centric Docklands topped the list with 2035 approvals, but was followed by new housing estate hot spots Mickleham and Rockbank, both above 1800.

Sydney’s Castle Hill was next, and another win for units, followed by the Melbourne area of Fraser Rise, then WA’s Alkimos-Eglinton region.

Wollert in Victoria, Ripley in Queensland and Box Hill in NSW rounded out the top 10, all of them representing new housing estates.

The Urban Development Institute of Australia has been tracking a notable disparity between development in new housing estates and medium-density housing locations compared to apartment markets.

High-density apartment construction has a variable track record for delivering homes, often swinging from high approval numbers to smaller growth.

While the latter can show large swings from year to year, the new estates are delivering more consistent volumes due to lower housing construction costs.

UDIA national president Oscar Stanley said they were concerned that if state governments continue to push programs aimed at increasing higher density development, it could lead to them falling short on housing construction goals.

“State Governments who don’t maintain a steady supply of detached houses will inevitably fall short of their housing targets and likely see housing affordability worsen,” Mr Stanley said.

“In addition to increased supply, diversity of housing stock is also crucial to improving affordability. Governments need to be facilitating a mix of low, medium and high-density housing options so people can choose what best suits their needs. A reliance on densification will not solve the housing issue.”

Housing Industry Association economist Maurice Tapang said their forecasts currently indicated Australia would build 1,012,615 new homes by the 2029 target date.

But the real increase in housing could be significantly smaller, with demolitions data suggesting about 20 per cent of the homes commenced in a given quarter were being matched by others being torn down.

HIA economist Maurice Tapang says with demolitions also occurring, the real increase in the number of homes around the nation may be quite a bit less than current estimates.

While they were increasingly positive in their estimates on apartment construction increasing, Mr Tapang said Victorian government policy moves were less likely to be effective than those interstate as none had yet addressed the fact that lower home value growth over the past two years meant it was simply cheaper for homebuyers to get an established unit than a new one.

“And with apartments there’s a whole lot of things that can lead to construction not commencing until five years down the line.”

The boss of Australia’s biggest home builder said Victoria’s growth corridors had “struck the right formula” in delivering communities people wanted to be a part of and councils working with developers and builders to get things moving.

Metricon chief executive Brad Duggan said in many instances they could build a newly approved, single-level house in 60 days and double-storey homes in 100 days — building more demand for new homes as word of mouth went from one family to the next.

“In areas like Mickleham–Yuroke and Rockbank–Mt Cottrell, families see opportunity: new communities, infrastructure coming online and the chance to get into a brand new home without the established market pressure; that confidence translates into approvals,” Mr Duggan said.

“And cost is absolutely a decisive factor. When families can build a modern, energy-efficient home for under $400,000, it becomes a far more attractive proposition than competing for established stock.”

Metricon chief executive Brad Duggan says the nation’s biggest movers of new home sales are affordability, and buyers wanting to be part of a new community. Picture: Richard Walker.

Mr Duggan said the biggest handbrakes on getting more homes built nationally was land supply, slow planning systems and infrastructure failing to keep pace.

While Victoria had done a better job of producing more land, he said it was now struggling to keep up with the roads, sewers and connections needed to turn that land into homes.

“New South Wales continues to struggle with lengthy and unpredictable approvals,” he said.

“Queensland has the demand, but not enough rezoned and serviced land in the growth corridors where people actually want to live. Until that land is unlocked, the state won’t be able to contribute its fair share to national housing targets.

“Across every major market, the story is the same: we have willing buyers and willing builders, what we need is a planning and land-release system that matches that ambition.”

He said the only way to reach the nation’s 1.2 million homes target now was to streamline land releases and infrastructure delivery.

“The target is achievable, but not under business as usual settings,” Mr Duggan said.

“The nation doesn’t have a construction capacity problem. Builders can deliver homes quickly, in our case, 60 days for a single storey home and 100 days for a double storey. What we need is the land and approvals pipeline to match that pace.

“If governments, councils and industry pull in the same direction, this target is absolutely within reach. Housing must be treated as a national economic priority, because it is.”

Aussie Areas Adding Most To Housing Supply

Source: ABS

Aussie Areas With Biggest Declines In Housing Supply

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Approvals have nosedived in Sydney Olympic Park, once one of the city’s high growth areas.

NSW’s plan to build its way out of the housing crisis has been unravelling in some areas, with approvals for new dwellings wiped out in key suburbs that were once building powerhouses.

New ABS data analysis showed the number of approvals for new homes plunged by as much as 800 annually in several suburbs, resulting in a handful of new projects being greenlit.

Many were areas that had been among the state’s most active construction centres only a year earlier and still have room for further expansion.

They included the precincts Arncliffe–Bardwell Valley, Kellyville–West, Greenwich–Riverview and Wentworth Point–Sydney Olympic Park.

Each market had more than 450 new homes approved in the 2023–24 financial year, making them among the busiest development centres in Sydney.

That pipeline has since slowed to a trickle over the past financial year and only a handful of new dwellings were signed off by planning authorities – or in some cases, none at all.

Caringbah had one of the biggest drops in housing approvals over 2025.

Wentworth Point-Sydney Olympic Park was the standout: 480 new homes were approved in 2023/24 but none were approved in FY2025.

It was a similar story in inner suburb Haymarket: 433 dwellings were approved the previous year but there were no approvals in the most recent reporting year.

Another area where approvals plummeted was Caringbah in the Sutherland Shire, where 42 new dwellings were given the nod by council in the most recent year, down from 402 the previous year.

These drops defied what was otherwise an uptick in approval numbers across NSW, with a total 186,507 new dwellings approved over the 2025 financial year, up from 161,839 the previous year.

The stark reversal in some areas underscores the fragility of NSW’s housing supply efforts at a time when the state is grappling with surging demand, rising rents and worsening affordability.

Housing Industry Association economist Maurice Tapang said approval numbers were particularly alarming given that many homes approved by council didn’t end up getting built.

This would suggest the actual number of projects delivering new housing stock was not enough to meet ambitious housing targets under the National Housing Accord.

“The real increase in housing could be significantly smaller,” Mr Tapang said.

Urban planners said the figures point to a system struggling with rising construction costs, stretched council resources and lengthy assessment timelines.

Developers, meanwhile, have cited higher materials costs and labour shortages as reasons many projects have been paused or scrapped.

Metricon boss Brad Duggan said the approval process in NSW was too slow.

“NSW continues to struggle with lengthy and unpredictable approvals,” Mr Duggan said.

“Streamlining that process would unlock thousands of additional homes and send a clear signal to industry that the system can keep up with demand.”

New units were often only built years after getting the green light from council.

Mr Duggan added that the housing target of 1.2 million new homes by mid-2029 under the National Housing Accord was achievable if councils sped up the approval process.

“Builders can deliver homes quickly,” he said. “What we need is the land and approvals pipeline to match that pace.

“Across every major market, the story is the same: we have willing buyers and willing builders, what we need is a planning and land-release system that matches that ambition.”

ABS data showed the collapse in approvals in some pockets contrasted other Sydney areas where approvals were rising.

Castle Hill–Central, Zetland and Burwood topped the state for new housing sign-offs, with local councils each green-lighting more than 1,000 dwellings over the year.

These areas helped offset the steep declines elsewhere, but economists said NSW overall was not approving enough homes to meet its targets, which could put additional pressure on already inflated home prices.

– With additional reporting by Nathan Mawby

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The family home just got a high-rise makeover as a growing number of Aussies are acting now to secure affordable properties, purchasing multiple apartments within the same development for the entire family.

Granger McGregor, 51, thought that he and wife Judy would downsize in about 10 years, they instead decided to fast track their journey.

They purchased two separate two-bedroom apartment’s off-the-plan within Ellipse Property’s Atrium building, the first stage of the developer’s Carrington Place masterplan in Castle Hill.

When the building is complete in mid-2026 Granger and Judy will live in one apartment while directly below them their daughter (now aged 16) and son Cooper (now aged 18) will eventually live independently in their own unit.

Judy and Granger (middle) will live in one apartment while directly below them their daughter (left) and son Cooper (right) will have their own unit. Image: Nathan Smith

“I never thought I’d end up back in an apartment because so many apartments are quite busy and on main roads and that sort of thing,” Mr McGregor said.

“I realised we weren’t going to get anything that was already built – you really have to do it off the plan to get two together.

“You get a sense of splitting a house in half but have it physically in the same building.”

“We saw it as a win-win, normally we would downsize at 60 or 65 like everyone else, but we thought the kids will spend their 20s and 30s maybe stressing about renting or maybe buying or whatever and we will be trying to downsize when we are quite old.

“As we started sorting through the house the last six months we realised there’s actually a lot of work in downsizing after 21 years and I wouldn’t want to be doing all of this work when I’m 70.”

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The McGregor family are downsizing from their five-bedroom family home in Cherrybrook. Image: Nathan Smith

Moving from their five-bedroom, two-storey family home in Cherrybrook, Mr McGregor said the apartments will be less maintenance.

“The house itself is now 30 years old and every weekend there is so much maintenance to be done – plus a big backyard that the children aren’t even interested in anymore,” he said.

“Housing affordability is so low that we know the kids would have been living with us well into their 20s, maybe even later.

“This way we can do that independently, yet with the comfort of having us so close by.”

Mr McGregor said Atrium offers the best of both worlds, where they are able to live independently, but still close to each other.

“We have the creek and bushland at our doorstep – but are just across the road from the Metro, retail and dining areas,” he said.

“I used to drive from Cherrybrook to Showground to the walking trail, but next year I will just walk out our front door and be there.”

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Granger and Judy McGregor said there were many benefits downsizing to the off-the-plan apartments. Image: Nathan Smith

Ms McGregor said the benefits outweighed risks of buying off-the-plan such as the upside of having two brand new apartments and not having a yard to maintain.

“My husband has hit 50 and I’ve got another year before I hit 50 but just thinking about our lifestyle and our kid’s lifestyle is going to evolve into it made a lot of sense to make the shift now so we can all enjoy apartment living but still stay together so to speak,” she said.

Cooper McGregor said it was not much different to double storey living.

“It’s a degree of separation intrinsically as a part of it but it’s still the same building and it’s only an elevator or staircase away,” he said.

“It will pretty much be acting as if it was just a second storey on a house rather than two entirely separate homes.”

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Carrington Place render

“This is definitely a new trend we are starting to see,” Ellipse Property associate director of design, marketing and sales Puja Khanna said.

“Instead of being the Bank of Mum and Dad down the track, parents are acting now to secure multiple properties.

“When the kids eventually do move out, the apartments can be kept as investments or sold.”

Colliers national director Blake Schulze said they are seeing more downsizers choosing such innovative solutions.

“It’s a smart way to maintain independence while staying connected and allow for flexibility in the future,” he said.

Carrington Place render kitchen and dining

Carrington Place living room render

“This trend is being driven by a combination of factors such as the high prices of freestanding homes, increasing construction and maintenance costs and the convenience of the new Metro, all of which make modern apartment living an attractive option.”

Luke Hayes director of Colliers said over the last year they have seen family purchases including securing homes for in-laws and/or parents.

“We’ve also seen quite a few amalgamations with a bit of a dual key aspect as well, where two apartments have been joined together to accommodate one super apartment” he said.

According to Mr Hayes, driving factors were both financial and caring for family members.

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