What people actually build

Every one of 423,148 development applications lodged in NSW since 2019, broken down by type of work — 274 distinct kinds, from a new dwelling to a farm shed. Each row is what that work typically costs and how many homes it delivers. Sort any column.

Type of workApplications ▾Median costNew dwellingsBusiest councils
Recreation area
most recent 19 Aug 2026
284 $359,080
238 costed
3 Council of the City of Sydney 18 · Campbelltown 16 · Forbes 12
Barbecues and other outdoor cooking structures
most recent 18 Aug 2026
280 $385,000
272 costed
259 Northern Beaches Council 16 · Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council 15 · Woollahra 14
Car park
most recent 21 Aug 2026
279 $1,278,010
236 costed
513 Camden Council 18 · Bayside Council 14 · The Hills 13
Medical centre
most recent 10 Aug 2026
278 $597,500
242 costed
506 The Hills 18 · Central Coast Council 15 · Liverpool 14
Function centre
most recent 18 Aug 2026
275 $256,245
193 costed
791 Council of the City of Sydney 25 · Port Stephens Council 17 · Singleton Council 16
Residential care facility
most recent 20 Aug 2026
266 $1,698,828
196 costed
9,799 Blacktown 14 · Central Coast Council 14 · Northern Beaches Council 13
Telecommunications facility
most recent 19 Aug 2026
263 $330,000
247 costed
2 Central Coast Council 13 · Liverpool 10 · Inner West Council 9
Portable swimming pools and spas and child-resistant barriers
most recent 14 Aug 2026
262 $45,000
253 costed
27 Lake Macquarie 26 · Central Coast Council 19 · Maitland 13
Home occupation
most recent 19 Aug 2026
258 $6,705
154 costed
270 Blacktown 17 · Camden Council 17 · Penrith 16
Self storage units
most recent 12 Aug 2026
253 $1,663,867
222 costed
3 Bayside Council 15 · Council of the City of Sydney 8 · Sutherland 8
Jetty
most recent 11 Aug 2026
253 $50,000
247 costed
2 Sutherland 47 · Lake Macquarie 39 · Central Coast Council 28
Waste and resource management facilities
most recent 5 Oct 2023
244 $318,287
182 costed
190 Penrith 18 · Nambucca Valley Council 10 · Central Coast Council 9
Shipping containers
most recent 21 Aug 2026
242 $12,000
214 costed
43 Lockhart 12 · Hilltops Council 11 · Tweed 11
Privacy screens
most recent 13 Aug 2026
230 $427,350
226 costed
141 Northern Beaches Council 24 · Lake Macquarie 16 · Blacktown 15
Group homes
most recent 22 Sep 2023
225 $722,000
204 costed
700 Lake Macquarie 17 · Blacktown 15 · Central Coast Council 15
Group home (permanent)
most recent 20 Aug 2026
221 $779,202
195 costed
421 Lake Macquarie 20 · Bayside Council 16 · Wentworth 15
Artisanal food and drink
most recent 26 Oct 2023
220 $80,000
168 costed
171 Shoalhaven 20 · Inner West Council 13 · Newcastle 13
Group home
most recent 19 Aug 2026
208 $747,391
185 costed
484 Penrith 23 · Wentworth 16 · Lake Macquarie 15
Outdoor dining - general
most recent 20 Aug 2026
202 $110,000
161 costed
5,434 Council of the City of Sydney 49 · Northern Beaches Council 13 · City of Parramatta Council 8
Shade structures of canvas, fabric, mesh or the like
most recent 19 Aug 2026
197 $77,110
184 costed
98 Council of the City of Sydney 10 · Griffith 7 · Penrith 7
Entertainment associated with existing premises
most recent 13 Aug 2026
197 $80,914
156 costed
12 Council of the City of Sydney 16 · Central Coast Council 11 · Fairfield 10
Electricity generating facility (solar and wind)
most recent 21 Aug 2026
196 $6,601,639
186 costed
1 Griffith 14 · Moree Plains 14 · Berrigan 11
Water recreation structure
most recent 20 Aug 2026
195 $55,000
191 costed
1 Sutherland 50 · Lake Macquarie 21 · Murray River Council 15
Caravan park
most recent 20 Aug 2026
184 $300,000
152 costed
51 Mid-Coast Council 28 · Shoalhaven 22 · Port Stephens Council 19
Farm building
most recent 14 Aug 2026
180 $75,759
173 costed
6 Yass Valley Council 31 · Cabonne 9 · Snowy Monaro Regional Council 8
Ancillary commercial development
most recent 18 Aug 2026
177 $155,850
162 costed
80 Council of the City of Sydney 19 · Cumberland Council 12 · Central Coast Council 9
Extractive Industries (non-mining)
most recent 17 Aug 2026
173 $55,000
112 costed
Dubbo Regional Council 11 · Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council 8 · Mid-Western Regional Council 7
Health services facility
most recent 11 Aug 2026
169 $530,200
139 costed
272 Council of the City of Sydney 9 · Lake Macquarie 9 · Tamworth Regional Council 8
Depot
most recent 19 Aug 2026
166 $143,150
136 costed
30 Camden Council 12 · Griffith 12 · Wollondilly 11
Automotive/truck premises
most recent 20 Aug 2026
164 $132,000
116 costed
4 Central Coast Council 9 · City of Parramatta Council 8 · Fairfield 7
Horticulture
most recent 13 Aug 2026
157 $20,000
144 costed
9 Maitland 41 · Hawkesbury 12 · Inner West Council 9
Rural industry
most recent 7 Aug 2026
155 $402,400
143 costed
1 Singleton Council 9 · Cabonne 7 · Griffith 7
Tennis courts
most recent 20 Aug 2026
154 $627,000
148 costed
80 The Hills 21 · Ku-ring-gai Council 18 · Wingecarribee 13
Artisan food and drink industry
most recent 18 Aug 2026
153 $93,000
115 costed
6 Inner West Council 19 · Northern Beaches Council 15 · Shoalhaven 8
Animal boarding or training establishment
most recent 11 Aug 2026
145 $172,800
112 costed
10 Central Coast Council 13 · Upper Hunter 10 · Mid-Coast Council 9
Flood mitigation work
most recent 15 Apr 2026
137 $165,000
121 costed
105 Wollongong 11 · Byron 6 · Kempsey 6
Neighbourhood supermarket
most recent 11 Aug 2026
135 $253,000
105 costed
1,102 Council of the City of Sydney 16 · Bayside Council 8 · Cumberland Council 6
Health consulting room
most recent 3 Aug 2026
134 $200,000
121 costed
93 The Hills 12 · City of Parramatta Council 8 · Hawkesbury 6
Agricultural produce industry
most recent 7 Aug 2026
121 $944,700
110 costed
1 Griffith 11 · Leeton 11 · Cabonne 9
Camping ground
most recent 17 Aug 2026
120 $31,196
91 costed
1 Mid-Coast Council 14 · Tamworth Regional Council 10 · Eurobodalla 9
Footpaths - outdoor dining
most recent 6 Aug 2026
117 $70,000
87 costed
5,198 Council of the City of Sydney 31 · Randwick 7 · City of Parramatta Council 6
Temporary structure
most recent 11 Aug 2026
114 $29,930
92 costed
4 Council of the City of Sydney 20 · Blue Mountains 9 · Shoalhaven 9
Local distribution premise
most recent 28 Jul 2026
111 $431,200
97 costed
1 City of Parramatta Council 7 · Central Coast Council 6 · Cumberland Council 6
Rural worker's dwelling
most recent 18 Aug 2026
111 $307,717
106 costed
702 Byron 8 · Hawkesbury 7 · Shoalhaven 6
Stormwater management system
most recent 30 Jul 2026
104 $272,050
92 costed
7 Campbelltown 8 · City of Parramatta Council 7 · Liverpool 7
Serviced apartment
most recent 22 Jul 2026
103 $1,081,692
84 costed
1,152 Mid-Western Regional Council 10 · Byron 9 · Cessnock 8
Hardware and building supply
most recent 16 Jul 2026
103 $290,000
84 costed
5 Blacktown 8 · Newcastle 6 · Inner West Council 5
Telecommunications network
most recent 19 Aug 2026
103 $321,976
94 costed
Blacktown 7 · Council of the City of Sydney 6 · Camden Council 5
Bed and breakfast accommodation
most recent 12 Jun 2026
102 $150,000
84 costed
143 Shoalhaven 6 · Byron 5 · Cessnock 5
Market
most recent 14 Aug 2026
98 $5,000
35 costed
Central Coast Council 9 · Wingecarribee 7 · Wollongong 7
Commercial livestock grazing
most recent 17 Aug 2026
97 $71,000
90 costed
1 Kempsey 5 · Tweed 5 · Cabonne 4
Electricity generating facility (non-solar or wind)
most recent 21 Aug 2026
94 $789,651
90 costed
84 Lake Macquarie 14 · Muswellbrook 9 · Maitland 6
Mobile food and drink outlet
most recent 17 Aug 2026
93 $22,000
69 costed
Canterbury-Bankstown Council 13 · City of Parramatta Council 12 · Tamworth Regional Council 7
Information and education facility
most recent 10 Jul 2026
93 $1,040,984
78 costed
1 Council of the City of Sydney 22 · Cessnock 6 · Walgett 5
Health Infrastructure
most recent 29 Jul 2026
91 $764,223
75 costed
219 North Sydney Council 7 · Central Coast Council 6 · Council of the City of Sydney 6
Emergency services facility and bush fire hazard reduction
most recent 15 Sep 2023
90 $610,786
86 costed
33 Wollondilly 9 · Shoalhaven 7 · Mid-Coast Council 6
Vehicle body repair workshop
most recent 12 Aug 2026
89 $82,500
69 costed
Fairfield 8 · Maitland 5 · Randwick 5
Public Reserve
most recent 30 Jul 2026
89 $800,000
77 costed
278 Council of the City of Sydney 11 · Blacktown 10 · City of Parramatta Council 10
Crop or fodder production
most recent 12 Aug 2026
87 $101,750
73 costed
Gunnedah 6 · Edward River Council 5 · Forbes 4
Intensive livestock agriculture
most recent 31 Jul 2026
86 $1,406,024
76 costed
Carrathool 17 · Forbes 9 · Tamworth Regional Council 7

Cost of works is the applicant's own estimate as lodged, so this reports the median rather than a total: the feed contains keying errors large enough to make sums meaningless — the biggest is $1,111,111,111,111 against alterations to a house, and 22 applications state a cost above $1,000,000,000 and are excluded here. Types with fewer than 20 applications are left out, because a median of a handful is noise. Source: NSW Planning Portal — Online DA open API, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0.