NSW building construction lags other states- planning reform needed

26 February 2014

The latest quarterly building construction figures show NSW below Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia, says the Urban Taskforce.

 

 “On a per capita basis NSW is underperforming compared to other states,” says Urban Taskforce CEO, Chris Johnson. “Clearly NSW needs to implement the proposed planning reforms to get the state back to being number one in building construction.”

 

“The three month building construction per person in NSW was $709 while the figure for Queensland was $813, Victoria was $1,032 and Western Australia $1,314. Even South Australia is getting close to NSW with $681 of construction per person.”

 

“For residential development NSW fared a bit better at $418 per capita just below Queensland’s $448, Victoria’s $661 and Western Australia’s $727.”

 

“Strong approvals in NSW over the last year do not seem to be flowing into construction expenditure sufficiently to lift NSW compared to other states. The non-residential building construction is lagging behind other states more than the residential sector.”

 

“The construction expenditure has gone down over the last year despite improving completions in the residential sector. What NSW needs is a confidence boost from a revamped planning system that supports appropriate growth. Opposition parties who have frustrated the Governments reforms need to support the changes or the government should implement the reforms within existing legislation.”

 

Attached see below chart of building construction quarterly per capita expenditure:

 

Quatery Construction jpg

 

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