The number of houses approved for construction in Victoria has crashed to the lowest level for more than a decade, casting further doubt on the state government’s promise to tackle housing affordability with 80,000 new dwellings a year.
The figures follow similarly grim construction figures released by the ABS last week which showed Victorian builders completed $5.2 billion worth of residential work during the final three months of 2023 – but that figure was down 5.4 per cent from a year earlier, and at the lowest level for more than eight years.spokesman James Newbury said the government’s housing target of 800,000 new homes over a decade was “a con that simply cannot be achieved”.
“We’re making sure we’re pulling all the levers that we can as a government to ensure we’ve got the conditions right to facilitate the delivery of thoseThe Allan government on Monday announced it had finished setting up a new case management team within the Department of Transport and Planning to help councils resolve planning issues to prevent them going to court.The department has identified 41 permits across 26 councils worth $1.
According to the government’s housing statement, released in September, Victoria will need to build about 57,000 homes each year merely to keep up with expected population growth.But it suggested the state would need an average of about 80,000 homes a year to relieve “acute” pressure. Victoria’s population is expected to swell by about half to 10.3 million by 2051, up from the current 6.8 million.
“The run rate required means … every year we fall behind we have to pick up the pace in the later years,” Rawnsley said.