NSW housing approvals plummet as National Cabinet goal becomes hard to reach
New housing approvals in NSW have plunged to their lowest levels since February, heaping more pressure on the state government to reach ambitious home-building targets.
NSW
Don't miss out on the headlines from NSW. Followed categories will be added to My News.
New housing approvals in NSW have plunged to their lowest levels since February, heaping more pressure on the state government to reach ambitious home-building targets set by the federal government.
Just 3,361 homes were approved across NSW in July, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data released Wednesday.
The update from the ABS did include good news for homeowners – with inflation dropping to 4.9 per cent for the year until July, in a move likely to stave off another interest rate hike next week.
The drop in inflation, from 5.4 per cent the month before, is good news as NSW struggles with a housing crisis.
Urban Taskforce CEO Tom Forrest said the latest charges, combined with the plunge in housing approvals, would kneecap the developers and builders attempting to build new homes.
“We appreciate the government has financial constraints – but every time they add a fee, tax or charge on housing supply, it has a direct negative impact on housing supply,” he said.
The 3,361 dwellings approved in July is this lowest since February when 3,257 were approved.
Analysis by the Urban Taskforce suggests NSW needs 90,000 approvals a year to achieve 76,000 new homes being built every year for the next five years, in order to reach housing targets set by National Cabinet.
“(The) 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.
A NSW Government spokeswoman claimed the Labor government had “inherited a housing crisis”.
“We’re working with councils, industry and other stakeholders to drive reforms to help the state to meet its targets,” she said.
Western Sydney mother of two Michelle Taylor has been struggling to secure a rental for her family amid the current crisis.
Ms Taylor and her children face the reality of couch surfing in the coming days if they are unable to lock in a rental after they leave their current Penrith residence.
Soaring interest rates were enough for the owner of their previous rental to have to sell.
“We were just told when we asked for further time to secure somewhere that the owners need to sell due to unexpected financial hardship (and) they are looking at selling the house instead and we need to be out ASAP,” she said.
“We were only given 30 days to be out of our current house and since we have been looking I have lost count of how many unsuccessful applications we have had.”
She revealed a friend of hers in a similar situation recently applied for a home in the area which received 80 applications.
“So many people are going for the same houses and they (agents) don’t personally know you, they just see you on paper.”
‘Profits before patients’: Hospital slammed for hiring out maternity ward
The controversial Northern Beaches Hospital is putting “profits before patients” by hiring out one of its two maternity wards to film and TV crews rather than accommodate birthing mothers, irate staff claim.
Cancer that killed dad won’t get me: Miracle drug gives Ryan hope
Ryan Harding has no memories of his father but he has lived with the same rare disease that took his life. Now, thanks to a newly PBS-listed miracle drug, he finally has hope—for himself and his future children.