Building Approvals

Building approvals

Despite the acknowledged need for a significant increase in housing stock, there is still a lag in building approvals coming through (see figure below) below. Data for 2025 is to date (and hence only reflects the first 5 months). Apartment approvals did increase in 2023 but have since declined and remain below pre-COVID levels. Housing approvals, the dominant type of building in the region, declined from a peak of 4000 homes in 2021, with data for 2024 showing a slight improvement on 2023. Only slightly more than 3000 homes were approved last year. In comparison, the Committee for the Hunter last year called on funding for 40,000 new homes for the region. 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).

Data source: ABS Building Approvals

The geographic spread of building approvals is reflected in the below charts. The figure shows the cumulative number of building approvals by type since 2016 for the whole of the Hunter. 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 Macquarie see a 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. In 2023, there was a rise in approvals in Newcastle SA2, bucking the trend of declining approvals across the region. Most of this was due to apartments.

The Institute for Regional Futures explored the issues surrounding housing in the region at Hunter Insight Series: Building a Healthy Housing Market, held in October 2023.