Chronic opposition to new housing in prime western suburbs has strangled attempts to supply Sydney with the vital homes needed to meet surging population growth.
Alarming new analysis has revealed multiple, large Harbour City enclaves where fewer than 20 new homes were built over the past two years, with local housing supply growing by less than a per cent.
There were 78 suburb areas identified as having “minimal to negligible” housing growth due to low dwelling approval rates, according to the SuburbTrends and MCG Quantity Surveyors data.
The low approval rates were “indicative of local opposition or restrictive zoning practices”, the research revealed.
It comes as NSW continues to fall behind housing targets, with the state well short of the 377,000 homes needed to be built to meet the National Housing Accord target of 1.2 million new homes by 2029.
Sydney’s north shore was one of the city regions with the lowest approvals.
Sydney areas with the least new housing approvals tended to be established suburbs dominated by low density, single-level homes. Less than a third of the homes in these suburbs were units or townhouses when the last census was taken in 2021.
These suburbs often had space to grow and much of the community opposition to the new homes has been on density grounds.
Council areas where lower volumes of housing were being approved covered much of the north shore and the inner west, along with parts of the Hills District.
But individual suburbs flagged as some of the worst perpetrators of NIMBYism (Not In My Back Yard) were in Sydney’s outer west – where there is generally space for new housing developments.
They included Glenmore Park in Sydney’s outer west, along with Harrington Park, Londonderry and Bligh Park.
Real estate investor Peter Diamantidis, with wife Mary, built a house in Glenmore Park in the 2010s but said planning approvals were much easier to get back then.
Other pockets with particularly low housing approvals were Menai, Illawong and Alfords Point in the Sutherland Shire and Cromer, on the northern beaches. The research excluded suburbs with less than 1500 dwellings.
Low development in these areas was “placing significant pressure on existing housing stock and exacerbating local affordability issues”, the SuburbTrends and MCG research revealed.
MCG Quantity Surveyors director Mike Mortlock said low approvals in many areas painted a “clear picture of entrenched resistance to new housing”.
“Places like Glenmore Park, Illawong and Cromer are emblematic of the challenge: low-density communities, often with strong local identities, where planning inertia and local opposition continue to choke supply,” Mr Mortlock said.
Many of the areas with the lowest housing approvals could benefit from densification, he added.
MCG director Mike Mortlock said many of the areas with the least new home building could benefit from moderate densification.
“What’s striking is that several of these areas, such as Springwood and Wentworth Falls, offer the very lifestyle benefits that would make them ideal candidates for moderate densification. Yet we see barely a trickle of approvals,” Mr Mortlock said.
“These are the suburbs where policy needs to evolve from rhetoric to implementation, because the mismatch between demand and local supply is only widening.”
Regentville, Windsor and Yarramundi were also flagged as low development suburbs, although these suburbs had strict flood control or bush fire zones that limited where new housing could be built.
Regional towns within SA4 areas such as Newcastle, Wollongong, and The Central Coast also reflect strong opposition or restrictive planning policies, according to the research.
This has limited new housing growth in these areas despite them being critical to relieving housing pressures in metropolitan Sydney.
HIA chief economist Tim Reardon said the housing approvals system needed an overhaul. Picture: Tertius Pickard
Housing Industry Association economist Tim Reardon said a “perfect failure” in the town planning system had allowed NIMBY tendencies to flourish in certain councils.
“Town planners get no reward for approving a development and face risks if they do approve a development,” he said.
Mr Reardon added that councils were often overly concerned with how new developments would influence voter decisions at local elections, thinking approvals would turn ratepayers against them.
“The areas where there is stronger resistance to new development tend to be older suburbs. We need to strike a balance between preserving these areas and supplying new housing.
“The solution is to take development approvals out of the hands of local councils and let state governments handle it while councils focus purely on town planning.”
Source: MCG Quantity Surveyors
Mr Reardon explained that a change in homeowner attitudes would also help.
“Opposition from rate payers to higher density developments is often with the view that it will devalue the existing homes and stretch amenities but new developments often deliver the opposite.
“Well-designed developments will often bring better amenities and services and make areas more desirable.”
Real estate entrepreneur Peter Diamantidis built a house in Glenmore Park back in the early 2010s and said the current planning system was unrecognisable compared to when he built.
“Most of the area was built about 30 years ago and they staggered land releases over a few years but now it’s really slow,” he said.
Source: MCG Quantity Surveyors
“There is a lot of land around there but it is not as easy to build.
“The problem with a lot of areas like this is that they are really poorly planned. A whole lot of promises were made about what kind of services would be built in the area but they often haven’t done that.
“There are a few suburbs that are like Glenmore Park. They have to be better serviced before they can be developed further. Right now, the infrastructure is coming in last.”
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