Dubbo council's housing approvals for 2023/24 on the rise

There was $19.5 million in development approved by Dubbo Regional Council in August. It follows $34 million in development approved in July.

During August there were also 23 single dwellings given the green light and six 'other' dwellings - comprised of dual occupancies, multi-dwelling housing and shop top housing.

As it currently stands, for the 2023/24 financial year, the council is expecting to see 240 single dwellings approved and 336 other residential dwellings.

If the projection is met, it'll be the highest number of housing approvals from the council in more than a decade.

In 2022/23 there were 468 housing approvals and in 2021/22 there were 458.

The council's director development and environment Stephen Wallace said in the coming one to two years he didn't expect any local issues to impact on housing growth.

He has predicted access to finance and the cost of materials as two major roadblocks, as well as access to tradespeople.

"I think the main issues are more macroeconomic issues. There are no local constraints of land on the horizon and we're certainly playing in that space to ensure that the projected land into the future is going to be available as well," Mr Wallace said.

He said the council figures showed medium density housing was on the rise, and that was something they would continue to encourage.

Cr Dickerson agreed that while there were headwinds everyone was facing, demand in Dubbo was strong.

But the need for higher density housing is increasing.

Cr Dickerson said a recent statistic showed in the past 100 years the number of people living in homes had halved.

"That obviously puts pressure on the housing market and the type of housing so we've got to make sure we respond to that, [and] I think we're doing our best to do that," he said.

However, the mayor said it also came down to developers and what they decided to build.

During August there were a total of 58 development applications approved.

The number of development applications approved for the 2023/24 financial year so far is down 24 per cent when compared to last year, however the value of those applications is 78 per cent higher.

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