Latest news with #UrbanDevelopmentInstituteofAustralia
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.
Sydney Morning Herald
19-06-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
NSW needs to build thousands more homes. Developers say this change will help
The NSW opposition has seized on proposed changes to the way developer contributions are used to criticise the state government for offloading the responsibility for building basic infrastructure, while property developers say the shake-up will advance the delivery of greenfield developments. Premier Chris Minns on Thursday released long-awaited draft guidelines for a scheme that enables property developers to choose between paying a $12,000 levy per residential lot, or delivering infrastructure such as parks and roads as a 'works-in-kind' contribution for new developments. The changes underscore debate about the provision of infrastructure in fast-growing parts of Sydney, as the state government seeks to ramp up the delivery of desperately needed housing stock. Developers will be able to dedicate land for public purposes or deliver infrastructure projects, rather than paying through the Housing and Productivity Contribution. The government introduced the contribution as a tax on new developments across Sydney, the Illawarra, Hunter and the Central Coast to replace the existing Special Infrastructure Contributions scheme in 2023. The state government hopes the proposed guidelines will improve the feasibility of greenfield developments, as developers will not be required to hand over significant amounts of cash before the issue of the first construction certificate or throughout the development approval process. Loading Urban Development Institute of Australia chief executive Stuart Ayres said the absence of a works-in-kind framework for the past couple of years had been a roadblock to starting construction on new homes. 'In the middle of a housing crisis we need more green lights for housing. This will take the pressure off the taxpayer and allow developers across the state to use their own capital to fund critical infrastructure, and that means projects can get rolling much earlier.' But Opposition Leader Mark Speakman said the draft scheme was 'an admission that Labor can't build the infrastructure needed to support housing – so now they're begging the private sector to do it instead. But the $12,000 tax per home still exists, driving up costs and driving down supply.
The Age
19-06-2025
- Business
- The Age
NSW needs to build thousands more homes. Developers say this change will help
The NSW opposition has seized on proposed changes to the way developer contributions are used to criticise the state government for offloading the responsibility for building basic infrastructure, while property developers say the shake-up will advance the delivery of greenfield developments. Premier Chris Minns on Thursday released long-awaited draft guidelines for a scheme that enables property developers to choose between paying a $12,000 levy per residential lot, or delivering infrastructure such as parks and roads as a 'works-in-kind' contribution for new developments. The changes underscore debate about the provision of infrastructure in fast-growing parts of Sydney, as the state government seeks to ramp up the delivery of desperately needed housing stock. Developers will be able to dedicate land for public purposes or deliver infrastructure projects, rather than paying through the Housing and Productivity Contribution. The government introduced the contribution as a tax on new developments across Sydney, the Illawarra, Hunter and the Central Coast to replace the existing Special Infrastructure Contributions scheme in 2023. The state government hopes the proposed guidelines will improve the feasibility of greenfield developments, as developers will not be required to hand over significant amounts of cash before the issue of the first construction certificate or throughout the development approval process. Loading Urban Development Institute of Australia chief executive Stuart Ayres said the absence of a works-in-kind framework for the past couple of years had been a roadblock to starting construction on new homes. 'In the middle of a housing crisis we need more green lights for housing. This will take the pressure off the taxpayer and allow developers across the state to use their own capital to fund critical infrastructure, and that means projects can get rolling much earlier.' But Opposition Leader Mark Speakman said the draft scheme was 'an admission that Labor can't build the infrastructure needed to support housing – so now they're begging the private sector to do it instead. But the $12,000 tax per home still exists, driving up costs and driving down supply.
Sky News AU
12-06-2025
- Business
- Sky News AU
‘Asleep at the wheel': Ben Fordham unleashes on Anthony Albanese for torching housing targets with excessive immigration intake
Ben Fordham has blasted Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in a fiery verbal spray, accusing the government of undermining its own housing targets by allowing in record levels of migrants. Sky News uncovered on Wednesday that the Albanese government would fail to reach it's target of constructing 1.2 million new homes over five years, with forecasts putting Australia 260,000 short by the deadline of June 2029. The State of the Housing System 20205 report forecast the government would only build 938,000 new homes by June 2029, well short of the 1.2 million repeatedly touted by the Prime Minister. Speaking to Sky News, Urban Development Institute of Australia President Col Dutton said that the UDIA National analysis found that Australia 'will actually undershoot the Housing Accord target by up to 400,000 homes', and that the accelerated immigration program had only made matters worse. Fordham said the Albanese government was deceiving the Australian public if it continued to tout its promise of constructing 1.2 million homes over five years, and that the current rates of immigration were untenable. 'The Albanese government promised to build more houses, today they're building less. They promised to lower immigration, today, they're bringing in more,' Fordham said on his 2GB breakfast program. 'The PM will tell us he's bringing down the migration numbers,' referencing the government's move to limit international student arrivals and 'building as many homes as he can, but we're not seeing it'. Fordham said Australia's housing build was "going backwards" due to the immigration surge. He said while Australians were not ant-immigration the "speed and the size" of the government's intake had caused angst in the community. Mr Dutton said factoring in immigration, UDIA data projections showed that the net losses in housing had ballooned to more than 1,500 every week. '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.' He also stated that the construction industry was being strangled by a myriad of challenges including rigid regulations and red tape, approval delays and a lack of coordination between all levels of governments on environmental laws. '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 coordinated approach between all levels of government," he said. ABS dwelling completion data showed that Australia had built only 166,000 homes in 2024, with 446,000 net overseas migrants entering the country that same year. With an average of 2.5 people per household, this created a housing shortage of roughly 12,400 in 2024 alone, separate from the existing shortfall.
