Thursday 6 March 2025
MEDIA RELEASE
Welcome Lift in Approvals but Momentum Key for 2025
The Property Council of Australia today welcomed the increase in NSW building approvals for January 2025 but warned sustained momentum was needed to meet the state’s ambitious housing targets.
Property Council NSW Executive Director Katie Stevenson said the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data showed another lift in approvals after a welcome increase in December.
“After months of poor results, it’s encouraging to see an uptick in approvals,” Ms Stevenson said.
“January’s increase again suggests recent planning reforms may be starting to gain traction and came close to the 6,283 approvals we need to see every month until July 2029 to meet our National Housing Accord target – but we’ve still a long way to go,” she said.
The ABS data shows NSW recorded 6,047 building approvals in January, up from 4,298 in December, with several large apartment buildings approved driving upward movement over the past two months.
Ms Stevenson said that while reforms such as the Housing Delivery Authority, Low and Mid-Rise Housing Policy, and Transport Oriented Development Program were important steps, their impact would need to be seen beyond two months of stronger approvals.
“It’s good news today but it’s far from mission accomplished – we need to see a consistent upward trend over months and years.
“The National Housing Accord requires NSW to deliver 75,000 new homes per year, and we are still well short of that goal. The 12 months to January saw just 45,828 new homes approved, just over 60 per cent of the homes we need to be delivering each year,” she said.
Ms Stevenson said the focus must remain on speeding up approvals and keeping councils both accountable and supported.
“The council league table shows less than half of councils in Greater Sydney, the Illawarra-Shoalhaven, Lower Hunter and Newcastle, and the Central Coast are meeting assessment turnaround times. A third of residential DAs are not being determined on time,” she said.
Ms Stevenson said the Property Council would continue working with the NSW Government to maintain momentum and make sure the planning system delivers at the scale required.
“The priority for 2025 must be keeping the approvals pipeline flowing, getting more homes underway, and making sure councils are both supported and held accountable,” she said.
ENDS
Media: Andrew Parkinson | 0404 615 596 | [email protected]