Apartments drive new building approvals
Approvals for new homes rose 10.4 per cent in July, driven by a surge in unit approvals which rose 32.1 per cent during the first month of the National Accord.
NEW home building approvals hit a 14-month high during the first month of the National Housing Accord, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
While the overall figure for approvals for new housing rose 10.4 per cent in July – after a 6.4 per cent June decrease – the main reason for the turnaround was a surge in unit approvals which rose 32.1 per cent.
The figures were welcomed by the Master Builders Australia and the Property Council of Australia.
But the industry advocacy bodies warned more work was needed to reach the 1.2 million target.
Despite the uptick in July, the total number of approved homes remains 5.1 per cent below the five-year average.
Master Builders Chief Economist Shane Garrett said: “These increases mean that detached home building approvals are running at their strongest level since October 2022.
“The volume of higher density home building approvals hasn’t been this high since November 2023.”
MBA CEO Denita Wawn added: “July marked the very first month of the new National Housing Accord.
“We have started on the front foot. However, it will still be a huge challenge for us to deliver the Accord’s target.
“Over the past five years, just 940,000 new homes were approved across Australia.
“More ominous is the fact that 166,140 new home building approvals were received over the year to July.
“If we remain at this pace, we’re looking at creating about 831,000 new homes over the next five years.
“We cannot take the foot off the peddle when it comes to boosting housing supply and improving the investment environment for new projects.
“Workforce shortages, woeful industry productivity, a lack of critical infrastructure, high taxes and charges, slow approval process, and costly union Enterprise Bargaining Agreements all inhibit the building and construction industry’s capacity to get on with the job.”
Property Council Group Executive Policy and Advocacy Matthew Kandelaars said: “While it’s pleasing to see the number of housing approvals rise in July, we are still building at levels below what we were building five years ago.
“We simply won’t hit our housing targets if we don’t continue to increase the number of homes approved. We need to see results like this, month after month.
“Our national target of 1.2 million new homes should be easily attainable for a wealthy, land-rich country like Australia but instead we’re behind the line as the starter’s gun is fired on our 2029 target.
“National Housing Minister O’Neil is rightly shining a light on unlocking the supply of new homes, but we’ll only be able to deliver that supply through close cooperation between industry and all levels of government.
“A meticulous focus on unlocking essential infrastructure like sewerage, water and power, and more construction labour are needed to deliver the homes Australians need.”
