The Property Council of Australia has expressed concern over the latest building data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), showing building approvals have declined to their lowest level in a decade.
Property Council’s Acting Executive Director Anita Hugo said it had been a hard year on the industry as it comes to grips with escalating construction costs and interest rates, and material and labour supply shortages.
“Times are tough, but they will only get tougher if we don’t continue building enough homes, especially now as we are about to face of a major migration boom,” Ms Hugo said.
“The latest data from the ABS shows on a seasonally adjusted basis, total approvals fell 0.1 per cent in the month and 17.3 per cent annualised.”
Ms Hugo said government and industry must collaborate to rapidly upscale our supply response to combat the housing crisis. “Industry is ready to work constructively with government to deliver on the housing our communities need to live, work and thrive.
“Increasing urban density around transport hubs, creating greater certainty through streamlining the planning system, and expanding the supply of social and affordable housing in NSW need to be top of the agenda for the new Government,” said Ms Hugo.
The total number of dwellings slumped 3.7 per cent to 12,611 in March. A fall in private sector housing fuelled the decline, with approvals diving 21.5 per cent compared with March 2022.