New data reveals Gold Coast housing approvals fell in 2017 but are rising again

NEW data has revealed the state of housing on the Gold Coast going forward. Building industry figure say its time to get used to the idea of living in units and townhouses.

THE days of quarter-acre housing on the Gold Coast is over, with new figures showing approvals for housing plummeted over the past year.

Figures released by the Master Builders Association Queensland show housing approvals fell 23.6 per cent over the past year.

More than 2800 homes were built in 2017, down from 3729 the previous year, a change attributed to a lack of available land to build new houses.

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Housing approvals fell in 2017. Picture Glenn Hampson

This defied the statewide trend, where approvals are up strongly in north and central Queensland.

Master Builders Gold Coast boss John Duncalfe said a lack of land meant Gold Coasters would have to accept a growth in high-density redevelopment of existing housing properties in older suburbs such as Southport and Burleigh Heads.

Mr Duncalfe said the face of the city would change with an increase in units being built instead of houses.

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Master Builders Gold Coast Regional Manager John Duncalfe

“A lot of guys (in the industry) are saying to me that the overall fall in approvals is a result of the availability of land and not everyone wants to live at places like Pimpama where the infrastructure from a traffic point of view isn’t great,” he said.

“Having said that, there is lot of new work happening but Gold Coasters will have to get their head around the mentality of knocking down older houses and rebuilding on the site.

“Unfortunately the dream of a quarter-acre is definitely a think of the past and we have to look at increasing out density as much as some people do not want that to happen or otherwise we will run out of space.”

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The traditional quarter acre property is a thing of the past according to industry figures. Picture Glenn Hampson

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Approvals for buildings of less than four-storeys was down 17.7 per cent across 2017 while towers higher than four levels were down 32.9 per cent.

Despite these falls, Gold Coast approval remain significantly above 2015 levels.

Industry figures told the Bulletin they were not concerned about the dramatic drop, pointing to strong figures recorded in January.

Housing approvals from December to January were up 12.1 per cent, while there have been significant boosts to unit approvals.

In January, approvals for unit buildings above four storeys jumped 428 per cent, while those below four levels increased 138 per cent.

Gold Coast City councillor Cameron Caldwell (AAP Image/Dan Peled)

City planning boss Cr Cameron Caldwell said he was not concerned by the dip in approvals in late 2017.

Cr Caldwell said the recent data showing an uptick early this year was encouraging.

“There is a growing trend with is supported in the city plan for increased infill development, particularly in the suburbs close to the light rail,” he said.

“Council has undertaking analysis which confirms there is sufficient greenfield land supply.

“There will always be slight market fluctuations but overall confidence remains high.”