Mark Speakman
Leader of the Opposition
Scott Farlow
Shadow Minister for Planning and Public Spaces
Shadow Minister for Housing
New ABS data released today shows building approvals in NSW have collapsed, marking the worst 12-month period to February since 2014 amid concerns from industry that the Minns Labor Government's housing policies simply are not building new homes.
Total dwelling approvals rose in February in every state in Australia except NSW with a staggering 44% fall compared with last month, and a 11.5% drop compared with the same month last year.
These numbers were released as the Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA) "NSW Housing Accord Progress Report" stated that the Government's housing policies "are yet to deliver any discernible market response in development activity" and "the lack of development applications going in and out of the system is concerning."
The Minns Labor Government's Transport Oriented Development Policy has seen "fewer than 150 dwellings… approved in TOD areas via local council pathways" and fewer than 10 development applications could be attributed to the TOD policy.
Stage 1 of the Minns Labor Government's Low and Mid Rise Housing Policy has seen fewer than 200 dwellings created since July 2024. Labor projected that the policy would create 112,000 new homes over the five year Housing Accord Period, yet a dismal 0.2% of the overall projection of new homes have originated in the first eight months of the policy.
Leader of the Opposition Mark Speakman said the Minns Labor Government is not building new homes despite all the fanfare of its policy proposals.
"Today's figures prove that NSW can undergo as many re-zonings as possible, but with higher taxes leaving housing projects unviable, the development pipeline is running dry under Labor.
"It's been almost a year since Labor's housing policies were enacted and these policies are failing. NSW is getting nowhere close to the lofty projections made by Chris Minns. Prospective first home buyers across the state are losing hope.
"Industry and the Opposition have been loud and clear for two years that it's not viable to build, yet Labor's inaction is resulting in new housing projects sitting in neutral because the numbers don't stack up," Mr Speakman said.
Shadow Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Scott Farlow said that the Liberals and Nationals voted against Labor's $12,000 housing tax on new home builds which was always going to make projects less viable.
"The UDIA figures show that Labor's housing policies promised to build homes in their thousands, and yet we are barely seeing homes built in their dozens after close to a year of waiting.
"When feasibility is the key issue for the building sector, the Government has made matters worse by imposing a $12,000 tax on new homes," Mr Farlow said.
"On these figures Chris Minns' housing policies will make next to no contribution to the 377,000 new homes target over the next five years – a target that will end in dismal failure. It's time that Labor wakes up to the fact that higher housing taxes don't work if you want to build more homes."
