Latest news with #UDIA
Sydney Morning Herald
31-07-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney suburbs failing to meet housing targets
The NSW government's push to encourage more intensive residential development near train stations has failed to deliver a swift uptick in fresh applications for major housing projects, according to industry analysis that shows Sydney and surrounds are falling more than 30,000 homes behind its five-year target. The shortfall was driven by 65 per cent of councils tracking behind the level of development activity needed to meet their housing targets for the next five years. Ku-ring-gai, Burwood, Strathfield, North Sydney, Hornsby and the City of Sydney were among the worst performers, the report published by the Urban Development Institute of Australia developer lobby group on Friday showed. NSW is required to deliver 322,000 new dwellings by mid-2029 under the National Housing Accord. NSW Opposition Leader Mark Speakman said the figures suggested Labor's key planning reforms had been 'a complete failure' in many Sydney areas, but Planning Minister Paul Scully countered: 'We have undertaken the largest reforms to planning in NSW history, and they will take time to have full impact.' The UDIA report coincided with the release of Australian Bureau of Statistics' monthly building approval data, which showed a 16 per cent jump in new dwelling approvals in NSW in 2024-25 – the first year of the accord – compared to the previous year, against a national increase of 13.9 per cent. Despite the bump, the July housing accord progress report showed the Greater Sydney 'mega-region' – which includes areas north of Newcastle and the Hunter Valley – was 30,777 development application (DA) approvals behind what was required by this stage to reach the state's supply goal. Loading The report noted there was reason for 'cautious optimism' as the gap between the target and delivery figures had not widened significantly since the shortfall of 30,035 dwellings in March. However, it said the market stability suggested by those figures had largely been driven by modifications to previously determined development applications that sought approval for more dwellings rather than an increase in the number of new applications in the system.
The Age
31-07-2025
- Business
- The Age
The Sydney suburbs failing to meet housing targets
The NSW government's push to encourage more intensive residential development near train stations has failed to deliver a swift uptick in fresh applications for major housing projects, according to industry analysis that shows Sydney and surrounds are falling more than 30,000 homes behind its five-year target. The shortfall was driven by 65 per cent of councils tracking behind the level of development activity needed to meet their housing targets for the next five years. Ku-ring-gai, Burwood, Strathfield, North Sydney, Hornsby and the City of Sydney were among the worst performers, the report published by the Urban Development Institute of Australia developer lobby group on Friday showed. NSW is required to deliver 322,000 new dwellings by mid-2029 under the National Housing Accord. NSW Opposition Leader Mark Speakman said the figures suggested Labor's key planning reforms had been 'a complete failure' in many Sydney areas, but Planning Minister Paul Scully countered: 'We have undertaken the largest reforms to planning in NSW history, and they will take time to have full impact.' The UDIA report coincided with the release of Australian Bureau of Statistics' monthly building approval data, which showed a 16 per cent jump in new dwelling approvals in NSW in 2024-25 – the first year of the accord – compared to the previous year, against a national increase of 13.9 per cent. Despite the bump, the July housing accord progress report showed the Greater Sydney 'mega-region' – which includes areas north of Newcastle and the Hunter Valley – was 30,777 development application (DA) approvals behind what was required by this stage to reach the state's supply goal. Loading The report noted there was reason for 'cautious optimism' as the gap between the target and delivery figures had not widened significantly since the shortfall of 30,035 dwellings in March. However, it said the market stability suggested by those figures had largely been driven by modifications to previously determined development applications that sought approval for more dwellings rather than an increase in the number of new applications in the system.
Sky News AU
11-06-2025
- Business
- Sky News AU
Australia's mass migration 'disaster' overwhelming Labor's housing plan, availability going backwards by hundreds of homes every week
Australia is bringing in migrants faster than it can house them, with Labor's mass immigration plans outpacing new home construction and shrinking the housing supply by more than 1000 homes every week. Australia is bringing in migrants faster than it can house them, with Labor's mass immigration plans outpacing new home construction and shrinking the housing supply by more than 1000 homes every week. Despite promising to deliver 1.2 million new homes over five years, new forecasts reveal the country will fall short by 260,000 homes by June 2029. The State of the Housing System 2025 report forecast the country will build only 938,000 new homes by June 2029, short of the 1.2 million promised. Meanwhile, net overseas migration will total about 1.2 million people by 2029-30, according to the federal government's own 2025–26 Budget. That means, by the time the government finishes building the homes, the country will have gone backwards by 200,000 homes. That shortfall translates to a net loss of more than 1,000 homes per week, when matched against population growth and existing shortages. Adding in natural population increases, the shortfall increases even further. In response, Migration Watch Australia Director Jordan Knight has accused the Albanese government of creating a 'total disaster in the making'. 'The Albanese government promised to build more houses, today they're building less. They promised to lower immigration, today they're bringing in more,' he told Sky News. 'The Housing Minister Clare O'Neil herself has said she wants house prices to continue to rise, and the government is using mass immigration to achieve this. 'Homeownership is a core pillar of our society. If we lose it, it will be chaos.' Mr Knight rejected the government's repeated claim that migration is needed to support the construction industry, labelling it a 'lie'. 'The lie that we need migrants to build houses is ridiculous. A minuscule amount of new migrants work in construction—and they need to be housed before they can build housing,' he said. — Migration Watch Australia (@migrationwaus) April 6, 2025 Immigration Minister Tony Burke announced changes in December to 'attract migrants' in specific occupations, including construction. 'The biggest bulk of our migrant intake comes from international students. Frankly, they can study online. We need to fix our problems first before we bring any more people in,' Mr Knight said. Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA) President Col Dutton also warned that Labor was falling far behind its commitments, citing new industry data. 'UDIA National analysis has found that Australia will actually undershoot the Housing Accord target by up to 400,000 homes,' Mr Dutton said. 'We simply can't build the houses fast enough … What we need is a sharp focus on skilled migration and coordination of housing supply policy with immigration numbers.' Under the UDIA projections, the net losses in housing increase to more than 1,500 houses every week. Mr Dutton said the industry was being choked by red tape, slow approvals, and infrastructure bottlenecks. 'Supply is being choked by development approvals processes through councils and state governments, lack of funding for enabling infrastructure to service development ready land and cumbersome environmental approval processes lacking a co-ordinated approach between all levels of government," he said. According to ABS dwelling completion data, Australia built only 166,000 homes in 2024, compared to 446,000 net overseas migrants entering the country that same year. With an average of 2.5 people per household, that created a housing shortage of roughly 12,400 dwellings in a single year—even before accounting for the existing shortfall. Rental vacancy rates have remained at near-record level lows of around 1.3 per cent, while the average time to save for a deposit has increased to 10.6 years. Housing Minister Clare O'Neil recently argued that the government has been laying the groundwork for long-term reform. 'It takes time to turn the tide on a housing crisis a generation in the making,' her spokesperson told Sky News last month. 'That's why it's so important the Labor government keeps building on the foundations laid last term." But critics have said the numbers don't add up—and the government's vision is being overwhelmed by its own migration settings. The Property Council of Australia echoed the warnings, saying 'alarm bells' were ringing over national housing supply. Chief Executive Mike Zorbas said the nation's construction and planning systems were still 'not fit for purpose'. 'The sad fact is that many Australians feel that homeownership is out of reach,' he said. 'More than 30 per cent of the cost of a new home is government taxes and charges.'
Sydney Morning Herald
15-05-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Colin Dutton on swapping one coastline for another and why he's not a fan of the ‘s' word
But after 10 years, Dutton says his love of building morphed into a passion for planning and a more holistic view of the way communities come together. Neither, though, he reveals, were his first choice of career. 'I wanted to be a rugby league star,' he tells me, laughing. 'I wanted to be [rugby league coach and former player] Mal Meninga's centre partner, but I wasn't quick enough or big enough or fast enough.' With a father who was heavily involved in the local sporting clubs, and three older rugby-obsessed brothers, Dutton says his dream of playing professionally began early. He played rugby union throughout high school and league after, dropping out of his second year of university to pursue rugby and surf life-saving full-time. But a spate of injuries brought his dreams of a rugby career to an abrupt end, forcing Dutton to reconsider his future. Tail between his legs, he returned to university to finish his degree. He says it wasn't until he began leading the development of master-planned communities from scratch that he realised the career he fell back on was the next best thing. 'It sounds a bit funny, but I distinctly remember standing in the middle of this community with large yellow trucks moving around me and feeling like that little boy in there — just with bigger trucks,' he says, as our pan-fried market fish dishes arrive. Dutton credits his time in local government with helping him to understand the nuts and bolts of the planning process. But he says no role has provided more insight into the system than his time at the helm of the Urban Development Institute of Australia. Dutton led the industry body's Gold Coast branch through the Global Financial Crisis before serving as president of the WA branch until 2023. Now, he is the UDIA's national president. He says he found the WA planning system easier to navigate than the federal system, lavishing praise on the McGowan-Cook government for its recent reforms. According to Dutton, federal planning and environmental approvals would benefit from an overhaul. Loading 'The challenge is always the execution through the system, and getting the product for the customer and the community is the hardest bit … getting through the various layers of the system can be really frustrating,' he elaborates. He firmly rejects that the proximity of the state's biggest developers to those in higher office is a problem, insisting being able to have an honest conversation with the powers that be is critical. Some critics believe the gaping disparity between the WA government's infill-promoting policies and bush-rezoning actions have enabled Perth's ballooning urban footprint — and the proximity of developers to political heavyweights has exacerbated the issue. But Dutton says it's not that simple. 'I'm not a huge fan of the word 'sprawl',' he says, as I attempt to broach the subject. 'There's a whole lot of planning that goes into creating those suburbs. We're involved in all four corridors of Perth and in infill as well, but so much work goes into planning and preparing infrastructure. 'There are fantastic developers in Perth with great products but, post-COVID, particularly high-rise, getting them off the ground is just not feasible.' With much of the city surrounded by the detached housing Perth has become obsessed with, Dutton points out the challenge in amalgamating sites to create infill projects in the appropriate areas. He says the issue is cost, and declares medium to high density projects rarely stack up financially outside the western suburbs. But Stockland is dabbling in both, developing 20,000 stand-alone lots as the company completes 97 medium density terrace houses in Glendalough and prepares to build more in Beaconsfield. Dutton assures me Stockland's strategy involves a mix of infill and greenfield developments in the future, and believes the current housing crisis will be a catalyst for innovation in terms of housing stock and the diversification of the product mix. 'Historically, it's been a lot of three to four bedroom double brick houses — a study a few years ago suggested it was 88 per cent of the build in Perth,' he says. 'That's the exact reverse in the eastern states … so there's opportunity there for innovation, not just in the types of materials used but the product mix.' Not that he envies those tasked with governing how we tackle the housing supply shortage and affordability issue. The nature of his job might require him to engage with it, but Dutton says he swore off a career in politics early, raised in a home he says would temporarily serve as a ward office at election time. His family was heavily involved in the Labor Party, and Dutton recalls being roped into handing out how to vote cards and conducting letterbox drops. 'I think it pushed me away from getting involved later,' he admits. 'It just seemed so full on. You're dealing with politics in your career every day, every week, so you have to take some interest in it, but I'm certainly not as passionate as they were about getting involved.' And in the next breath, he lays bare a jam-packed weekly schedule that fits well within the realm of 'full on'. With seven active projects and four more about to get under way, Dutton's diary is filled with meetings with everyone from government officials to contractors and builders. He rarely works from home, he tells me, but did today because the venue for our lunch is close by, and he balances his busy day job with his responsibilities at the helm of the UDIA. 'I like to map out my week each week to stay on track and retain balance,' he tells me. His love of the water hasn't wavered, he tells me, and he still makes time to swim laps three times a week — having trained for and completed several Rottnest Channel Swims. 'Swimming, it takes your mind off things,' he says.
The Age
15-05-2025
- Business
- The Age
Colin Dutton on swapping one coastline for another and why he's not a fan of the ‘s' word
But after 10 years, Dutton says his love of building morphed into a passion for planning and a more holistic view of the way communities come together. Neither, though, he reveals, were his first choice of career. 'I wanted to be a rugby league star,' he tells me, laughing. 'I wanted to be [rugby league coach and former player] Mal Meninga's centre partner, but I wasn't quick enough or big enough or fast enough.' With a father who was heavily involved in the local sporting clubs, and three older rugby-obsessed brothers, Dutton says his dream of playing professionally began early. He played rugby union throughout high school and league after, dropping out of his second year of university to pursue rugby and surf life-saving full-time. But a spate of injuries brought his dreams of a rugby career to an abrupt end, forcing Dutton to reconsider his future. Tail between his legs, he returned to university to finish his degree. He says it wasn't until he began leading the development of master-planned communities from scratch that he realised the career he fell back on was the next best thing. 'It sounds a bit funny, but I distinctly remember standing in the middle of this community with large yellow trucks moving around me and feeling like that little boy in there — just with bigger trucks,' he says, as our pan-fried market fish dishes arrive. Dutton credits his time in local government with helping him to understand the nuts and bolts of the planning process. But he says no role has provided more insight into the system than his time at the helm of the Urban Development Institute of Australia. Dutton led the industry body's Gold Coast branch through the Global Financial Crisis before serving as president of the WA branch until 2023. Now, he is the UDIA's national president. He says he found the WA planning system easier to navigate than the federal system, lavishing praise on the McGowan-Cook government for its recent reforms. According to Dutton, federal planning and environmental approvals would benefit from an overhaul. Loading 'The challenge is always the execution through the system, and getting the product for the customer and the community is the hardest bit … getting through the various layers of the system can be really frustrating,' he elaborates. He firmly rejects that the proximity of the state's biggest developers to those in higher office is a problem, insisting being able to have an honest conversation with the powers that be is critical. Some critics believe the gaping disparity between the WA government's infill-promoting policies and bush-rezoning actions have enabled Perth's ballooning urban footprint — and the proximity of developers to political heavyweights has exacerbated the issue. But Dutton says it's not that simple. 'I'm not a huge fan of the word 'sprawl',' he says, as I attempt to broach the subject. 'There's a whole lot of planning that goes into creating those suburbs. We're involved in all four corridors of Perth and in infill as well, but so much work goes into planning and preparing infrastructure. 'There are fantastic developers in Perth with great products but, post-COVID, particularly high-rise, getting them off the ground is just not feasible.' With much of the city surrounded by the detached housing Perth has become obsessed with, Dutton points out the challenge in amalgamating sites to create infill projects in the appropriate areas. He says the issue is cost, and declares medium to high density projects rarely stack up financially outside the western suburbs. But Stockland is dabbling in both, developing 20,000 stand-alone lots as the company completes 97 medium density terrace houses in Glendalough and prepares to build more in Beaconsfield. Dutton assures me Stockland's strategy involves a mix of infill and greenfield developments in the future, and believes the current housing crisis will be a catalyst for innovation in terms of housing stock and the diversification of the product mix. 'Historically, it's been a lot of three to four bedroom double brick houses — a study a few years ago suggested it was 88 per cent of the build in Perth,' he says. 'That's the exact reverse in the eastern states … so there's opportunity there for innovation, not just in the types of materials used but the product mix.' Not that he envies those tasked with governing how we tackle the housing supply shortage and affordability issue. The nature of his job might require him to engage with it, but Dutton says he swore off a career in politics early, raised in a home he says would temporarily serve as a ward office at election time. His family was heavily involved in the Labor Party, and Dutton recalls being roped into handing out how to vote cards and conducting letterbox drops. 'I think it pushed me away from getting involved later,' he admits. 'It just seemed so full on. You're dealing with politics in your career every day, every week, so you have to take some interest in it, but I'm certainly not as passionate as they were about getting involved.' And in the next breath, he lays bare a jam-packed weekly schedule that fits well within the realm of 'full on'. With seven active projects and four more about to get under way, Dutton's diary is filled with meetings with everyone from government officials to contractors and builders. He rarely works from home, he tells me, but did today because the venue for our lunch is close by, and he balances his busy day job with his responsibilities at the helm of the UDIA. 'I like to map out my week each week to stay on track and retain balance,' he tells me. His love of the water hasn't wavered, he tells me, and he still makes time to swim laps three times a week — having trained for and completed several Rottnest Channel Swims. 'Swimming, it takes your mind off things,' he says.
