Serena Copley, Liberal for Kiama. Click here to learn more.
The Minns Labor Government’s key housing policies are not building the new homes that were promised, with new data from the UDIA NSW Housing Accord Progress Report (July 2025) confirming that Labor’s flagship TOD and Low and Mid-Rise Housing reforms are not enough to deliver any significant new housing for hopeful residents trying to get on the property ladder.
According to the report, only 3.7% of dwellings submitted for approval in the last financial year could be attributed to these policies.
The report also states that “current economic conditions will continue to make apartment projects unfeasible to build.” The Housing and Productivity Contribution, introduced by the Minns Labor Government, acts as a $12,000 tax on every new home — and record state taxes and charges are pushing projects beyond viability and being passed on to future homebuyers.
NSW Opposition Leader Mark Speakman said the report confirms what industry has been warning: Labor’s policies are not working.
“These figures show that you can draw all the circles on a map that you like, but if it’s not feasible to build, then nothing will be done. With its record state taxes and charges, the highest in Australia, the Government has made it more expensive to build.”
“The only places where TOD is being taken up are in wealthy areas where first home buyers cannot afford to buy. Everywhere else, it’s been a failure. The only apartments that will ever get built from these policies are coming with over a million-dollar price tag.”
“Labor’s policies are simply not driving new housing projects, and an environment not feasible to build in is crushing the dream of prospective home buyers.”
Shadow Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Scott Farlow said the latest data makes clear that Labor’s approach is economically unviable and structurally broken.
“Developers are voting with their feet. They're staying away from Labor's TOD zones because the numbers don’t stack up. It is simply not feasible to build in this high-tax environment, confidence is gone, and the supply pipeline is drying up.
“You can’t talk about housing affordability with a straight face while slugging home builders and eventually future homebuyers with record taxes and charges, including Labor’s $12,000 housing tax. Industry is making it crystal clear – no matter how many rezonings there are, it is not feasible to build new housing in NSW.
“In The Low and Mid Rise housing policy was promised to build 112,000 homes over the next five years, but in the first year of the Housing Accord only 2.5% of the promise has been met. This is directly caused by a lack of infrastructure investment in selected areas to enable housing growth.”