The President of Local Government NSW, an independent organisation that advocates for local councils in NSW, says councils are sick of being blamed for the state’s ongoing housing crisis.

Darriea Turley said it was disingenuous to make “councils the whipping boy” for all the state’s problems, especially the lack of housing.

She said that there was a significant disparity between the number of developer applications that are approved by councils and the number of construction certificates for completed work, which shows the failure of developers to actually build the homes they’ve been approved to construct.

There’s currently a shortfall of 200,000 social and affordable homes in NSW, according to the Community Housing Industry Association NSW.

According to Turley, councils approve 97 percent of all DAs, but far more DAs are approved than actual buildings being constructed. Figures for the most recent two financial years show 103,460 DAs were approved but only 83,419 construction certificates were lodged.

“These are the Government’s own figures and the rhetoric being bandied about in State Parliament and in the media is nothing more than convenient fiction.”

Turley said the primary issue preventing affordable homes from being built was land banking. “Land banking is a massive problem – some developers have no intention of developing and selling the number of homes required to meet demand, because this would simply drive down the cost of homes and therefore their profits.

Land banking is also becoming an issue for smaller developers that have every intention to proceed with their development but can no longer make a profit due to the rising costs of materials, labour shortages and higher interest rates.

“The business model for most developers and builders requires them to carry debt, so the spike in interest rates – something neither local nor state governments can control – makes it uneconomic for them to proceed,” Turley said. 

She proposed a roundtable involving the local government sector, state government ministers, including NSW Premier Chris Minns, as well as senior planning bureaucrats and developers.

“Councils and their communities want liveable homes rather than cheap, easy developments thrown up without any scrutiny,” Turley said.