Sarah Courtney,Minister for Building and Construction
The ABS figures released today confirms Tasmania continues to lead the nation in the annual growth in residential building approvals, the only State or Territory to register positive annual growth.
Tasmanian dwelling unit approvals over the year to February 2019 grew 19.1 per cent in trend terms, while national building approvals declined 21.7 per cent over the same period.
The confidence of Tasmanians to build more homes is a clear demonstration that while mainland Australia dwelling approvals are going backwards, the Hodgman Liberal Government is working hard to support the housing market and the building and construction industry to encourage housing development so we can increase Tasmania’s housing supply.
The nominal value of residential building approvals has also continued to increase strongly, up by 20.1 per cent in the year to February 2019 – in stark contrast to the decline of 5.4 per cent experienced nationally.
Whilst this news is positive for Tasmania’s housing supply, the Hodgman Liberal Government is working through our Affordable Housing Action Plan 2019-2023, providing $125 million to deliver an extra 1500 new affordable homes to Tasmanians.
In addition, we have extended the $20,000 First Home Builder Boost, provided stamp duty relief for pensioners downsizing, removed red tape to make it easier and quicker to build homes, and rezoned surplus government owned land to enable more homes to be built.
