Property Council welcomes rise in dwelling approvals but warns challenges remain

The Property Council of Australia has welcomed an increase in dwelling approvals for July 2024 but cautioned that challenges persist in meeting national housing targets.

Key points from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data include:

New housing approvals across Australia rose 10.4% in July to 14,797, following a 6.4% decrease in June.
Apartment approvals drove the increase, rising 32.1% in July after a low June result.
Despite the uptick, total approved homes remain 5.1% below the five-year average.
Over the past 12 months, 165,443 dwellings were approved, down from 175,770 in the preceding 12-month period.

Matthew Kandelaars, Property Council Group Executive Policy and Advocacy, said the increase was positive but insufficient to meet 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,” Mr Kandelaars said.

He emphasized the need for consistent monthly increases to hit the national target of 1.2 million new homes by 2029.

Mr Kandelaars called for closer cooperation between industry and all levels of government to unlock housing supply. He highlighted several key areas for focus:

Unlocking essential infrastructure like sewerage, water, and power
Increasing construction labour

The Property Council also urged the Federal Parliament to accept compromise build-to-rent legislation, which they claim could unlock 105,000 homes by 2034, with 10% being affordable housing.

“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,” Mr Kandelaars said.

He concluded by stressing the importance of this proposal in addressing Australia’s affordability and supply crisis.