NSW building approvals fall behind targets

NSW’s housing delivery pipeline has been significantly stunted, revealing the state may never meet its housing goals.

As Australia’s housing crisis prevails, new council level ABS data released Tuesday shows NSW’s building approvals have fallen well behind what would be required to reach NSW government housing goals.

The five year plan aims to deliver 377,000 homes across 43 councils across Greater Sydney, Illawarra-Shoalhaven, Central Coast, Lower Hunter and Greater Newcastle and one target for regional NSW by 2029.

The ABS data shows out the 43 councils approved just 28,984 dwellings in the first nine months of the Housing Accord, an average of 3,220 a month.

To reach NSW targets, at least 5,366 buildings would have to be approved per month – falling short by over 2,000 homes per month.

Property Council NSW deputy executive director Anita Huge said only five of the 43 councils were on track to reach goals.

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Building approvals and completions for residential properties are down. Photographer: Brendon Thorne

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“Our analysis shows that if current approval rates continue at the same pace, only five of the 43 councils with housing targets will meet them by 2029 – Burwood, Canada Bay, Cessnock, Maitland and Hawkesbury,” Ms Hugo said.

She added that of the 43 councils, 19 are currently tracking to deliver 50 per cent or less of the housing targets they’ve been set with Lane Cove, North Sydney, City of Sydney, Woollahra, and Strathfield all currently tracking between 6 and 27 per cent of the approvals needed to be on target.

Parramatta had the highest amount of approved dwellings in this financial year, followed by The Hills, Blacktown and Ryde.

A competitive auction in Lane Cove as building approvals are down in the suburb. Photo: Tom Parrish

With weak approval figures, completion figures also had no chance of picking up.

In 2024, NSW completed just 45,552 new homes compared to 47,567 in 2023.

Building commencements saw an even greater drop – from 46,331 in 2023 to 42,397 in 2024.

With the State Budget weeks away, the Property Council is calling for measures to accelerate delivery from approval to completion.

“We’ve seen promising reforms, but unless the Budget turns those reforms into delivery, we won’t close the gap,” Ms Hugo said.

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