The Property Council of Australia has announced that it has welcomed an uptick in the latest July dwelling approvals data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
However, the Property Council of Australia state that challenges remain in reaching Australia’s national housing targets.
Approvals for new housing across Australia rose 10.4% in July to 14,797, after a 6.4% June decrease, according to seasonally adjusted data. Approvals for apartments drove the result, with approvals rising 32.1% in July after a low June result.
Despite the uptick in July, the total number of approved homes remains 5.1% below the five-year average. Over the past 12 months, 165,443 dwellings were approved, a decline from 175,770 in the preceding 12-month period.
The Property Council Group found that despite a monthly increase in housing approvals, it remains below the levels needed to reach housing targets.
“While it’s pleasing to see the number of housing approvals rise in July, we are still building at levels below what we were building five years ago.
“We simply won’t hit our housing targets if we don’t continue to increase the number of homes approved. We need to see results like this, month after month. Our national target of 1.2 million new homes should be easily attainable for a wealthy, land-rich country like Australia but instead we’re behind the line as the starter’s gun is fired on our 2029 target.
“National Housing Minister O’Neil is rightly shining a light on unlocking the supply of new homes, but we’ll only be able to deliver that supply through close cooperation between industry and all levels of government.
“A meticulous focus on unlocking essential infrastructure like sewerage, water and power, and more construction labour are needed to deliver the homes Australians need.”
Matthew Kandelaars, Group Executive Policy and Advocacy, Property Council
Property Council of Australia has called upon the Federal Parliament to also consider and look to the Build to Rent sector to help meet the country’s housing needs.
“The quickest and most obvious lever that can be pulled is for the Federal Parliament to accept compromise Build to Rent legislation supported by the Property Council, the Community Housing Industry Association and National Shelter that will unlock an unprecedented 105,000 homes by 2034, 10% of which would be affordable.
“The Parliament has the opportunity to support settings next week that are conducive to the supply of 105,000 new high-quality rental homes, more than double the number currently supplied by the Housing Australia Future Fund.
“Every MP that backs this proposal is helping turn the tide on our affordability and supply crisis and house more Australians.”
Matthew Kandelaars, Group Executive Policy and Advocacy, Property Council
