While approvals for houses are on the rise, the number of apartments being approved in Australia is still too low, according to the Property Council of Australia.

It says that in September, approvals for townhouses and apartments rose 4.7% to 4,653 but remained subdued after a 13.5% fall in August. In the past 12 months, only 56,186 apartments and townhouses have been approved, at the same time in 2018, 102,323 were approved.

The Property Council’s Matthew Kandelaars says Australia will not meet its housing targets if approval levels for both houses and units don’t increase. “It is particularly apparent that we are just not building apartments at the levels we used to, and those approvals remain below where they need to be,” he says. “High construction costs, sluggish planning processes and taxes that hinder apartment projects are now limiting supply.”

While more than 40% of Australians support high-rise apartment development, the majority still don’t want it in their neighbourhood, according to the latest REA Property Seeker Survey.