Explanatory notes

• Dwellings are defined by the ABS as "a self-contained suite of rooms, including cooking and bathing facilities, intended for long-term residential use". This excludes rooms within buildings offering institutional care (e.g. hospitals) or temporary accommodation (e.g. motels, hostels and holiday apartments). In the context of this dashboard and for presentation purposes only, we have aggregated dwellings into density categories:

Low Density

  Houses (includes separate, kit, and transportable houses)

Medium Density

Semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses

Flats, units or apartments (in one, two, or three storey blocks)

High Density

  Flats, units or apartments (in four or more storey blocks)

Others

Alterations and additions to existing dwellings that lead to the creation of new dwellings (e.g. converting a manor house into multiple dwellings)

Conversions of non-residential buildings into residential dwellings (e.g. warehouse conversions)

Other dwellings not elsewhere classified, usually small-scale mixed residential and non-residential buildings where the primary purpose of the building is non-residential (e.g. Small-scale shop-top housing, such as a fish and chip shop with a small flat above

• Dwelling Approvals refers to a residential development that has received the final approval to begin construction. For NSW, this means a dwelling has obtained a Construction Certificate (CC) or Complying Development Certificate (CDC).

• Dwelling completions are a count of newly completed dwellings, and are measured on a net basis in this dataset. Net dwelling completions is a count of newly completed dwellings that is adjusted for demolitions. For example, a two-unit development that demolishes one existing dwelling is counted as one net dwelling completion. A knock-down rebuild would not be counted in this dataset as there has been no addition to dwelling stock.

An alternative measure is Gross dwelling completions, which is where demolitions of existing dwellings are ignored. This approach is used by the ABS in their Building Activity Survey. The ABS Building Approvals series is also measured on a gross basis.

Dwelling completions are split into two dwelling types: Detached and Multi Unit. This classification is based on the number of net additional dwellings recorded in the dataset. Records of one net dwelling completion are classified as Detached, and records of two or more net dwelling completions are classified as Multi Unit.

• Greenfield pipeline status refers to the current state of progression of a development through the stages of the development pipeline cycle. In order they are:

Subdivision Under Assessment

Lots which may be created under development applications that are being assessed by relevant consent authorities

Subdivision Approved

Lots that have been approved for subdivision but the registration with NSW Land Registry Services (LRS) has not yet occurred

Lot Vacant

Lots that have been subdivided, but have not started dwelling construction or have any dwellings completed

Lot with Dwelling Under Construction

Lots that have been subdivided and completed registration with NSW LRS, and dwelling construction has commenced as evidenced by earthworks

Multi-dwelling Assessment

Multi-dwellings which may be developed under development applications that are being assessed by relevant consent authorities

Multi-dwelling Approved

Multi-dwellings that have been by the relevant consent authority

Multi-dwelling Under Construction

Multi-dwellings that have been approved for development and construction has commenced as evidenced by earthworks

• Housing supply forecast refers to the Department’s annual forecast that models the number of potential dwellings in Sydney’s future housing supply, providing information about where, when and how many new homes are likely to be built in the Greater Sydney area over the next five years. There are three scenarios provided (low growth, central base case, and high growth).

Note: For the purposes of this dashboard, we are displaying the 5 year total suburb forecast as individual year forecast, with the forecast number of dwellings evenly divided across the 5 years. This is for display purposes only and does not represent that Department’s actual forecast for each individual year.

• Infill development refers to residential development occurring in existing urban areas; non-greenfield areas.

• Net Lot Sales are a count of lots sold by a greenfield estate developer to a builder or end user. A lot is defined as sold when it has been marked as sold, deposit taken or contracted. Lots on hold, EOI or reserved are not defined as sold. This figure does not capture lot resales (from one end user to another).