Housing approvals in NSW continue at historic highs with 70,897 residential building approvals over the past year, according to data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Minister for Planning and Housing, Anthony Roberts, said the rate of building approvals and completions in NSW was unprecedented and showed the NSW Government’s policy to increase supply was working.
Mr Roberts said almost twice as many homes were approved in the 12 months to July 2017 compared to the last 12 months of the previous government.
“This is the strongest result of all the states, it’s the 21st consecutive month that annual approvals have exceeded 70,000 and the 45th consecutive month that annual approvals have surpassed the decade average of 47,124,” Mr Roberts said.
“Building approvals have yet again exceeded the state priority target of 50,000 homes for more than three and a half years. This shows that the NSW Government is getting on with the job of delivering the homes needed to house the state’s growing population”.
Today’s record figures come on the back of figures release by the NSW Department of Planning and Environment yesterday showing that Sydney’s housing boom continues, with Western Sydney the centre of the construction activity.
Those figures showed housing completions are up from last financial year with the Department of Planning and Environment’s data showing there were 34,091 new homes completed in Greater Sydney (mostly in western Sydney) in the year to June 2017 – an 11 per cent.
“We are tackling housing affordability head on. Our number one priority as a government is to get more homes built – a key ingredient in putting downward pressure on the cost of a new home.”
NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said the figures demonstrated the government’s commitment to making new homes more affordable.
“Housing approvals throughout NSW have more than doubled since we came to Government in March 2011, with an average of 4,679 approvals per month, compared to 2,666 under Labor – this represents a 76 per cent increase,” Mr Perrottet said.
“Making home ownership attainable for as many people as possible is our key focus and right now we are seeing more houses being built than at any time in NSW’s history. Today’s figures show that trend is set to continue