Unless local councils accelerate the number of new home approvals, the housing deficit in Sydney will rise to a massive 190,000 homes, according to a new report commissioned by the Property Council of Australia.
Property Council of Australia Executive Director, Glenn Byres believes that Sydney councils need to move faster throughout the approval process.
“Sydney councils need to turbocharge housing supply because right now, homebuyers and our economy are paying the price,” Mr Byres said.
“Home building is critical to the State’s economy – and supports tens of thousands of tradespeople and other workers.”
The report unveiling the lack of housing also shows that by 2024, the number of homes needed to keep pace with growing populace would total over 190,000 residential properties.
“If we fail to keep pace with demand, we drive up prices and make housing less affordable for the next generation of homebuyers,” Mr Byres said.
“Councils need to get on with the job of issuing approvals, delivering the housing required to keep pace with population growth and a better planning system is essential.”
Additionally, the report states that since housing targets were originally set over a decade ago, Sydney has collectively fallen short of the targets by over 51,000 homes.
Furthermore the rate of approvals is at 17,002 per decade – this compared to the target of 22,178 approvals shows why Sydney is not producing residential properties efficiently.
Mr. Byres has read the report and believes the development of more housing projects will only happen if the housing applications process is sped up to match the rate of population growth.
“Even in an era of record low interest rates, a strong NSW economy and pent up demand, we’re producing about 8,000 home a year less than we’re going to need,” Mr Byres said.
According to the report, only five councils throughout Sydney have issued enough approvals to keep up with the growing housing demand. This shortfall is expected to set the city back 14,073 new homes a year.
“So far, we’ve lacked the volume and type of sites needed for new housing – and that is in both existing areas where urban renewal an occur, as well as greenfield housing,” Mr Byres said.
“A big priority needs to make sure more areas are available for urban renewal – along with transport corridors, old industrial lands, town centres and other priority areas.”
