The report released today emphasises the need for ongoing reform and investment in the NSW planning and housing sectors, as well as highlighting the role of the Minns Government's planning reforms in helping us reach our target under the National Housing Accord.
The NSW Government is focused on making the delivery of new housing cheaper by speeding up the approval of new homes. We are seeing momentum build along the housing pipeline, with planning approvals now 15 per cent faster than under the former Government, the number of applications lodged is up 28 per cent compared to the same time last year, and more than 70,000 homes are under construction.
The Minns Government has led an ambitious planning reform agenda with the Low and Mid Rise (LMR) policy set to deliver 112,000 homes over the next five years and the Transport-Oriented Development (TOD) program, 231,855 homes. As well as the largest investment in social and affordable housing in the state's history. The report acknowledges the work undertaken by the Government to increase lodgements, approvals, and completions.
Key findings from the report include:
- Dwelling prices and rents rose in 2024, but at a slower rate than in 2023.
- The supply forecasts do not directly incorporate the impacts of recent state government policy measures related to land use reform, such as the Low and Mid Rise (LMR) policy or Transport-Oriented Development (TOD).
- If TOD and LMR are included, and macroeconomic conditions stabilise, the report indicates housing supply in New South Wales could approximately meet its respective share of the Housing Accord target.
- States and territories are progressing initiatives to reform land use and planning systems and to speed up approvals through the National Planning Reform Blueprint.
- The recently established Housing Delivery Authority in New South Wales will streamline the development of major housing projects by reducing the number of complex development applications councils are required to assess.
- Rising financing and construction costs reduced the financial feasibility of new residential construction projects in 2024, limiting the number of dwelling approvals, commencements, and completions.
The NSW Government has made clear that it will be difficult to meet these ambitious targets, but it is committed to pulling all levers to deliver more homes.
After a decade of inaction on housing from the previous Government, the Minns Government is working with industry and councils to speed up assessment times, as well as creating new and streamlined planning pathways that allow a proponent to choose between working with a council or the State Government to progress their proposals.
This is all part of the Minns Government's plan to build a better NSW with more homes and services, so young people, families, and key workers across the state have a place to call home, in the communities they choose.
Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, Paul Scully:
"The Minns Labor Government inherited a system that was working against achieving the Housing Accord targets. It was also never assumed that, given macroeconomic conditions and the costs of construction, it would be a straight line between now and mid-2029.
"We are turning around the system. Planning approvals are 15 per cent faster today than they were in March 2023, the number of applications lodged is up 28 per cent on the same time last year, and NSW has the most homes under construction in the country. There are thousands more homes and DAs being finalised that are embracing our planning reforms such as the Housing Delivery Authority and the Low and Mid-Rise policy. We're building a pipeline that will actually deliver homes.
"The State of the Housing System report shows us that we have our work cut out for us, but as a Government we've got our priorities right."
