The Property Council of Australia, meanwhile, said the drop in apartment approvals underscored the need to overhaul planning systems if governments are to meet housing targets.
Property Council group executive, policy and advocacy, Matthew Kandelaars (pictured top centre), said the reversal in apartment activity was a concern after September’s improvement. “Apartment approvals are volatile, but seeing a fall after some positive figures in September is frustrating,” he said.
“We know we can lift our run rate. In October 2015, we approved 9,212 apartments – that should be the benchmark we set for ourselves. While ambitious, this is an achievable target, and it should be our goal heading into the new year.”
Kandelaars stressed that higher-density approvals would be central to meeting the national housing target. “Without approving large-scale apartment projects in higher numbers, our housing targets just get that much harder to reach,” he said.
“Addressing the housing crisis means building more homes and the best way to do that is at scale – apartments to purchase or to rent, retirement villages, land lease communities and purpose-built student accommodation.