Housing and planning approvals in South Australia continue to build momentum, with latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data showing dwelling approvals for the year ending April 2026 increased 5.6% when compared with the previous year.
The total for the year ending April 2026 of 14,914 is an all-time high for dwelling approvals in South Australia, with monthly approvals exceeding 1,200 homes in 13 of the past 16 months.
“These figures show our housing reforms are working, with dwelling approvals up 5.6 per cent over the year to April and planning approvals continuing to move at pace,” said Housing Minister, Nick Champion.
“We are in a league of our own when it comes to planning approvals when compared to the large eastern states.
“While Victoria is taking on average 165 processing days to approve a new home, we are doing it in 18 business days.
“In a national housing crisis, this is not an insignificant difference,” he said.
In addition to the rise in housing approvals, South Australia is processing planning approvals for new homes more than seven times faster than Victoria and more than three times faster than NSW, the data showed.
In the 2025-26 financial year to date, planning authorities have taken an average of 18 days from lodgement to decision for planning consent in South Australia.
Median assessment times are even quicker, at 12 days in South Australia compared with 119 days in Victoria.
On top of this, 90% of planning consent decisions in South Australia are made within the statutory timeframes, compared with just 64% in Victoria and only 71% in NSW.
Seventy per cent of new housing applications in South Australia are now processed through the Government’s Performance Assessed pathway, with an average turnaround of just 15 days. More straightforward applications are resolved in as little as one day.
