New NSW homes squandered in five stages of land release
New analysis from the Property Council of Australia shows that land released for residential development in NSW is not resulting in new homes being available with thousands lost in the five stages between when land is released for development and a home is delivered.
The five stages of land release are;
- when land is released for development,
- land is zoned,
- land is serviced with key infrastructure,
- approval for dwelling commencement, and
- dwelling completion.
The Property Council analysis shows that in the first stage of land release, over a third of land released for new housing does not get rezoned for new homes highlighting a serious blockage in the system.
More potential homes are lost between land being rezoned and being serviced with water and electricity and then between when the land is serviced and when dwellings are approved and then completed.
“The five-stage process is like a sieve with homes leaking from the process at multiple points severely restricting the supply of housing – Sydney needs these homes and there needs to be serious effort to plug the holes our analysis has found,” Property Council NSW Executive Director Jane Fitzgerald said today.
“It is shocking to see how many potential new homes are being lost; this undermines efforts to address the affordability challenge in NSW.”
In the year to 30 June 2016, while there was enough land released to provide over 160,0 dwellings, just 30,000 were completed; over 80 per cent fewer than land was earmarked to provide.
On average, over the past nine years, 40 per cent fewer dwellings received approval than land was available to support
“The Government should reinstitute the Metropolitan Development Program (MDP) to monitor and forecast land supply in metropolitan Sydney and the Central Coast including greenfield and infill areas,” Ms Fitzgerald said.
“The MDP performed a critical role between 1981 and 2010 and has been effectively dumped since then.
“The focus of NSW Government reporting (and seemingly monitoring) is concentrated on dwelling approvals and completion figures, ignoring the importance of rezoning and servicing land to be development ready.
“Converting land from ‘release’ into ‘completed dwellings’ is a complex and time-consuming process. Focus needs to be paid to ensuring that every step in the process is achieved as efficiently and effectively as possible to maximise the conversion of land into new homes.”
|
RELEASED |
REZONED |
SERVICED |
APPROVED |
COMPLETED |
|
|
Jun-07 |
108,180 |
,063 |
33,899 |
16,820 |
14,715 |
|
Jun-08 |
106,521 |
61,224 |
30,167 |
17,732 |
13,862 |
|
Jun-09 |
131,057 |
68,636 |
35,578 |
13,636 |
13,041 |
|
Jun-10 |
132,134 |
86,949 |
43,845 |
19,310 |
13,293 |
|
Jun-11 |
146,166 |
85,511 |
41,986 |
22,440 |
14,722 |
|
Jun-12 |
154,167 |
89,012 |
42,195 |
24,460 |
15,104 |
|
Jun-13 |
160,741 |
111,406 |
45,882 |
30,375 |
20,339 |
|
Jun-14 |
168,361 |
128,311 |
47,211 |
39,090 |
22,7 |
|
Jun-15 |
161,358 |
144,359 |
56,199 |
46,766 |
27,348 |
|
Jun-16 |
160,597 |
140,701 |
83,991 |
54,723 |
30,191 |
Source: various DPE material; Metropolitan Development Program Reports, Greenfield Development Quarterly Reports and Department of Planning Metropolitan Housing Monitor Sydney Region (drawing on ABS data)