Building Approvals

Building approvals

The number of building approvals by type since 2016 for the whole of the Hunter is shown below. This data is available by Statistical Local Area 2 (SA2) level, and thus the data presented here includes SA2 areas in the Mid-Coast LGA (see comment in footnotes). For the region as a whole, the predominant development is still housing, although number of approvals have been declining from a peak of 4000 in 2021 to just over 2025 in 2023. For more dense development, there are mixed signals, with a rise in apartment approvals (but still lower numbers than in the late 2010’s) offset by declines in the number of semi-detached, row or terraces houses since a peak in 2021.

A visualisation of the geographic spread of these approvals is provided below. The figure shows the number of building approvals by type since 2016 for the whole of the Hunter on a cumulative basis. For housing, the dominance of approvals in the outer-middle regions of the Hunter is evident, with housing approvals concentrated in the Branxton, Thornton and Morriset areas. The urban areas in Newcastle and Lake Maquarie see the concentration of apartment approvals, with few new housing approvals. The mid-density housing (semi-detached, row and terrace houses) are spread over a combination of urban areas and the outer SA2s.