NSW government can’t say when it’ll reach its 75,000 new home housing target

With the ambitious goal of building 375,000 new homes by June 2029, one state is struggling to say when it’ll hit the target, with current progress lagging.

The NSW government has been unable to say when it will be able to build 75,000 new homes per year as the state struggles to supercharge its housing pipeline and meet national mandates.

Under figures set under the National Housing Accord, NSW will need to build 375,000 new dwellings in the five years between July 1 this year to June 30 2029. Split over this period, it evens out to 75,000 new homes a year.

Speaking about the state’s pipeline of housing reforms on Thursday, Planning Minister Paul Scully was unable to pinpoint when the state will hit the level of output.

His comments come after NSW Premier Chris Minns conceded to The Daily Telegraph that the ambitious benchmark would not be reached this year.

“Along with any other thing, each year you’re going to have changes in dynamics that mean different things happen,” said Mr Scully.

“It happens in a whole range of industries. There’s a seasonality and ebbs and flows in numbers – that’s going to happen in housing delivery as well.”

Under housing targets set by the Commonwealth government, NSW must build 375,000 new homes by 2029. Picture: NCA NewsWire/ Gaye Gerard

Mr Scully said the 75,000 was an “arithmetic target,” and the government’s priority was to ensure the planning system was reformed to allow the state to deliver the necessary housing.

In Labor’s first 10 months of government, it has introduced incentives for developers to access bonus floor space ratios and height allowances for major builds with a minimum of 15 per cent affordable housing.

It’s also flagged policy changes to encourage medium density builds around transport hubs and town centres which plans on providing about 112,000 new homes across Greater Sydney, the Hunter, Central Coast and the Illawarra.

Developers will also eventually be able to chose from a “pattern book” of low and mid rise building designs with the goal of fast-tracking approvals.

However, Mr Scully said it would take time for the reforms to take hold and for “the industry to gear up”.

”What we’ve got to do is make sure that were gearing up the machine and making sure there’s a pipeline of builds coming through the system (that are) well-located, well-designed, well-built homes close to transport and amenities,” he said.

Planning Minister Paul Scully said it would take time for Labor’s housing reforms to be reflected in the housing figures. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Swift

On Tuesday, the Premier told The Daily Telegraph the annual 75,000 new home target “will be very difficult to meet in the short run”.

While he didn’t put a figure on a revised goal, he said he wanted NSW to lead the east coast on completed homes, given NSW has the largest population, highest rents and highest median home prices.

According to the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), NSW commenced construction on 58,433 homes in the 12 months to September 2023. In the same period Victoria began work on 54,560 homes.

NSW Opposition Leader Mark Speakman said the targets were “in tatters” and more needed to be done to increase supply in the immediate future.

“We need to ease demand by cutting immigration but we also need to facilitate supply by making sure that as many of those migrants as possible are skilled and they are coming here quickly,” he said.