Lake Macquarie City Council development approvals are at a record high as building activity climbs across the Lower Hunter.
The council approved $709 million in building work in the year to September, up from $705 million the previous year and $676 million in the 12 months before that.
Australian Bureau of Statistics data show approvals in Newcastle stand at $827 million for the year to September 2021, down from $945 million the previous year but still the second-highest figure on record.
Maitland approved $551 million in building work, down from $939 million in the previous year, when the new $470 million Maitland Hospital was approved, but higher than in any other year.
Lake Macquarie's development assessment and certification manager, Liz Lambert, said the council had approved 2110 development applications so far this calendar year, which was "definitely up from other years".
The ABS data reveal the growing significance of residential building activity in Maitland, one of the fastest growing areas in NSW.
Five years ago, Maitland council approved 776 dwellings in the 12 months to September 2017, well below the 1211 approved in Lake Macquarie and 1243 in Newcastle. But, in the 12 months to September this year, the 1282 residential building approvals in Maitland outstripped approvals in Newcastle (1129) and almost matched Lake Macquarie's 1325.
Lake Macquarie approved 447 dwellings in the first three months of the financial year, up from 251 in the September quarter last year and 277 in 2019.
"We're certainly hearing it and feeling it in terms of people lodging applications and then seeking to have them out," Ms Lambert said.
"We're hearing it across the industry how hard it is to get supplies and trades. Everyone in the building industry is just so busy."
Total building approvals in Lake Macquarie, including non-residential development, tallied $222 million, almost double last year's total for the September quarter.
The 1129 dwellings approved in Newcastle in the past 12 months was the lowest figure in five years and down from 1561 in the corresponding period last year.
Ms Lambert said a NSW government program offering councils incentives to speed up approval times had led to a surge in approvals in the first six months of 2021.
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