NSW Councils to Release Housing Approval Figures to Expedite Construction Efforts

In a move to spur competition between councils, the New South Wales (NSW) state government will publish data on the number of housing approvals processed in each area, and rank them in a league table.

A consistently underperforming council will be subject to a Performance Improvement Order to speed up approvals.

The measure is part of the NSW government’s efforts to address the housing crisis by increasing supply by allowing developers to build faster.

Minister for Planning Paul Scully said it was critical to track these figures as councils approve 85 percent of residential housing proposals in the state.

“We are committed to building a better NSW with more homes so young people, families, and workers have somewhere to live. The government has announced a suite of housing reforms over the past 12 months aimed at delivering more homes faster,” he said.

“We are now introducing new performance standards and monitoring because if we don’t measure performance then we can’t monitor it properly.

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Mr. Scully released a new Statement of Expectations outlining the desired timeframes that councils need to meet when assessing various proposals.

This includes $200 million for councils that do manage to achieve this.

“There is $200 million in financial incentives available to councils to help achieve housing targets and improve planning performance including development application timeframes,” he said.

“The funding will help deliver local infrastructure including roads, open spaces, and community facilities for growing communities.”

Meanwhile, timeframe expectations for significant development projects will be published from August.

The new ranking will also allow the state government to track its own performance.

However, NSW Opposition leader Mark Speakman criticized the use of funds for the new league table, saying it siphoned investment away from needed infrastructure.

He said the state needed to increase density to address the housing crisis.

Mr. Speakman also noted that the high levels of immigration that have been fueling demand need to be addressed.

Approval Numbers in a Trough

Under the National Housing Accord, the NSW government is pledging to build 377,000 new homes by 2029.

That was a monthly increase of 5.9 percent for private sector approvals, and a 2.9 percent increase overall.

While NSW had the second-highest increase in private sector approvals, it came in last across every jurisdiction when comparing overall numbers.

NSW was also far behind the top-ranked state, Western Australia, where approvals increased nearly 20 percent.