The PipelineDevelopment Pipeline in Darebin - North
1 Proposed13applications in assessmentLeading · to September 2026See applications ↓
2 Approved988dwellings approved in 2025-26, or 0.76 per 100 existing dwellings a yearOfficial · ABS to August 2026See approvals ↓
3 Building16major projects committed or under construction, 6 of them already on siteForward · completions to 2029+See projects ↓
4 Delivered3,337new addresses verified since the 2021 Census, up 7.3% on the existing baseActual · to August 2026Where it landed ↓
In the 2025-26 financial year the ABS recorded 988 dwelling approvals across Darebin - North. Right now, 13 development applications are before the 2 councils covering the area. AreaSearch tracks 16 major projects here that are committed or under construction, the largest being La Trobe University City of the Future at an estimated $5.00bn. On the ground, 3,337 new addresses have been verified since the 2021 Census — growth of 7.3% on the existing address base.
These four figures are deliberately not added together. An application, an
approval and a project under construction are often the same building at three points in its life,
measured by three different bodies with three different lags. Read them as a sequence, not a total.
ApprovedBuilding Approvals in Darebin - North
What councils and certifiers have formally
permitted — the ABS series, published about four months in arrears.
Approvals are running at 0.76 per 100 existing dwellings a year, in line with the Victoria rate of 0.80. Recent approvals are dominated by attached housing — apartments, townhouses and other non-detached dwellings make up 82% of them. Detached houses make up 60% of the homes already standing here but only 16% of the past five years of approvals, so the area is densifying. The average approved dwelling is valued at $438,000 in construction cost.
For its size, Darebin - North is adding 0.76 dwellings a year per 100 existing homes — in line with the Victoria rate of 0.80 and the national rate of 0.71. That is about 7.5 approvals a year for every 1,000 residents. Building intensity has been broadly stable across the published series.
Measured against people rather than housing stock, Darebin - North is approving 9.36 dwellings a year per 1,000 residents — above the Victoria rate of 7.86. The two rate views differ by household size, which here averages 2.5 people per home. Housing the projection to 2041 would need about 12.00 per 1,000 residents a year.
Dwelling approvals a year per 100 existing
homes, with Victoria and Australia for comparison. This is the
same activity as the totals view, divided by the size of the area — which is the only
fair way to compare a large SA3 with a small one.
Dwelling approvals a year per 1,000
residents, each year divided by that year’s estimated resident
population (ABS ERP at 30 June), not by today’s — which matters most in fast-growing
areas, where a fixed denominator can understate the early years by half. The most recent periods use the latest published ERP, as the population series runs a year behind approvals. Read it alongside the per-100-homes view: the two differ wherever household size does.
Dwelling units approved each financial year. The dashed line is the five-year average of 804.
How intensively is it building?
Dwelling approvals a year per 100 existing dwellings.
Darebin - North0.76
Victoria0.80
Australia0.71
What is here, and what is coming
Detached houses as a share of existing homes,
against the share of recent approvals.
Existing homes (2021 Census)60%
Approved, last 5 years16%
Approved, latest year18%
Detached housesApartments, townhouses & other
Approvals mix by year
Share of each year’s approvals.
2023
2024
2025
2026
2025-26
$481m
Residential work approved
2025-26
$241m
Commercial work approved
construction cost
$438,000
Average value per approved dwelling
last two years
139
Residents per approval
Supply & DemandIs Darebin - North Building Enough Homes?
The same approvals, measured against the population
they have to house.
Darebin - North approves about 7.5 new dwellings a year for every 1,000 residents. Since the 2021 Census it has added 11,713 residents but only 3,337 new addresses — about 3.5 extra people for every home built, against an average household of 2.5. On those numbers supply has not kept pace with growth. Housing the population projected for 2041 implies roughly 1,284 new dwellings a year from here, which puts the recent approval rate of 804 a year behind what the projection needs.
Growth against supply since the Census
People added for every new address verified,
against the size of an average local household.
People added per new home3.5
Average household size2.5
A bar longer than the household average means
the area gained more residents than its new housing could hold, and the extra had to be
absorbed by existing homes.
Approval rate against projected need
Dwellings a year: what is currently being
approved, against what the 2041 population projection implies.
Approved (5-yr average)804
Implied need to 20411,284
Implied need assumes the average household stays
at today’s 2.5 people. Approvals are not
completions, and not every approval is built.
What is being asked for right now — applications
collected from council planning portals, before any of it reaches the ABS series above.
AreaSearch tracks applications of material scale; routine minor works such as signage and
fencing changes are not carried, so these are not counts of every application lodged. 38
of them carry an AreaSearch analyst assessment — look for the
Analysed marker in the search below.
AreaSearch tracks 1,645 development applications of material scale lodged with councils across Darebin - North, the most recent in September 2026. The biggest categories in the queue by value are mixed-use, multi-residential and retail. Live applications account for about 38 proposed dwellings.
Estimated value of applications by development type. This is the clearest
single picture of what kind of place Darebin - North is being asked to become. A further 12 applications sit across
1 smaller category,
too few to plot.
Where the applications stand
As reported by the council. Highlighted rows are
applications still in assessment.
Planning Permit Issued88
Permit Issued (post NOD)60
Plan/Permit Amended56
Withdrawn27
Lapsed15
Allocated to Officer12
A further 1,317 applications carry no status in the council feed.
By local government area
Applications on record within each council area that
overlaps Darebin - North. This counts applications inside this
statistical area only — it is not a total for the council.
Darebin1,637
No current list of the largest applications can be shown for Darebin - North.
Nothing on record here is both still open and lodged within the last
18 months. Victoria has no
state-wide planning portal and its council coverage is uneven, so what AreaSearch can
collect here is a record of past activity rather than a live queue. We are currently
investigating a solution. The
1,645 applications AreaSearch holds for this area, lodged
between Dec 2009 and Mar 2021, are counted in the figures above.
BuildingFORWARDMajor Projects & Infrastructure in Darebin - North
What is funded and moving — the projects large enough
to change how Darebin - North works, ranked by committed value and how close
they are to delivery.
AreaSearch tracks 16 current projects across Darebin - North. The largest is La Trobe University City of the Future at an estimated $5.00bn, due by 2050. That breaks down as 6 under construction, 4 approved and awaiting a start and 6 still in planning. The pipeline is weighted toward residential development, transport & logistics and precincts & urban renewal.
Under construction$1.41bnby 2026
Level Crossing Removal - North Western Program Alliance
The North Western Program Alliance, one of four program alliances set up by Victoria's Major Transport Infrastructure Authority, is removing level crossings and upgrading rail lines across Melbourne's north…
A masterplanned urban regeneration project delivering up to 650 homes. Partnership between Homes Victoria, MAB Corporation, and HousingFirst replacing outdated social homes with new social housing and market…
Mixed-use build-to-rent community by Assemble Communities with Housing Choices Australia, on a site spanning 30 St Georges Road, 32-36 Oakover Road and 47-49 Showers Street, next to Bell Station. Designed by…
Suburban Rail Loop NorthIn planning · Transport & Logistics · by 2053 · Reservoir - South East
$96.0bn
Hilton Garden Inn BundooraIn planning · Tourism · by 2027 · Kingsbury
$50m
High Street Preston Streetscape UpgradeApproved · Precincts & Urban Renewal · by 2029 · Preston - East
$15m
18a Miller Street Development - Small Sites Pilot ProgramIn planning · Residential Development · by 2027 · Preston - East
$35m
Reservoir Leisure Centre RedevelopmentIn planning · Sports & Recreation · by 2039 · Reservoir - North East
$95m
High St, PrestonIn planning · Residential Development · by 2026 · Preston - East
$130m
Preston Central Infrastructure ContributionsIn planning · Communities, Precincts & Urban Renewal · by 2027 · Preston - East
$10m
1 further project in
Darebin - North are not listed here.
Combined values on this page exclude
1 whole-of-state program that
reaches this area but are not
local to it, and 1 record that appear to be
separate stages of a project already counted. Both are still listed
above with their own values.
Denotes AI-based impression for illustrative purposes only, not to be taken as
definitive under any circumstances. Please follow links and conduct other
investigations from the project’s source for actual imagery. Developers and
project owners wishing us to use original imagery please Contact
Us and we will do so.
Beyond 2030:
a further $5.40bn across
3 projects with completion dates further out — mostly precinct-scale programs whose dates are
indicative. Kept out of the chart so the years you can act on stay readable.
Estimated value of tracked projects by the year they are due to
complete, stacked by how certain they are. The dark band is money already being spent;
the pale band is still an intention. Estimates are indicative and mix infrastructure
cost with whole-of-precinct development value, so read the shape rather than the totals.
Approvals PipelineDevelopment Applications in Darebin - North
Development applications around
Darebin - North
Development approvals is a new addition to AreaSearch.
We’re actively expanding council coverage and refining the dataset — details and statuses for some councils may be partial. Check back regularly for the latest pipeline.
Application search is not available in Victoria.
AreaSearch holds 192 applications for Darebin - North, but they are a record of past activity rather than a current register. Victoria has no state-wide planning portal and its council coverage is uneven, so we
have switched the search off here rather than return partial answers. We are
currently investigating a solution. No credits are charged for Victorian
applications, and building approvals from the ABS and the major projects we track
are unaffected.
SOURCE: Planning portals and council registers, compiled by AreaSearch. Distance & bearing measured from the suburb midpoint.
ProfessionalPRODevelopment Map for Darebin - North
Applications and major projects plotted where
they are actually proposed, with the
36 projects AreaSearch tracks here on their own tab — filterable by type, delivery stage,
area and committed value. To search every application on record rather
than this sample, use the section above.
DistributionWhere Development Is Happening in Darebin - North
Darebin - North covers 7 statistical areas, and development is not spread evenly between them. Preston - East alone accounted for 61% of the area’s dwelling approvals in 2025-26. The top three between them took 80% of the total.
Approvals per 100 existing homes in
2025-26, by statistical area, with the Darebin - North figure marked. Ranked
rather than stacked: rates cannot be added together.
Approvals per 1,000 residents in 2025-26,
by statistical area, against each area’s own estimated resident population, with the
Darebin - North figure marked. A small area building hard is invisible in
the totals view and obvious here.
Dwelling approvals each financial year, split by the statistical area they
fell in. Each column totals the whole Darebin - North figure from the
approvals chart above — SA2s nest exactly inside an SA3, so the two always reconcile.
Tap or click an area in the legend to hide it and compare the rest.
The smallest 2 areas are
grouped as one band.
Map builder
Each area below opens a map builder on its own page — a tool for
putting a map and a table into a report. Pick the place types you want plotted
(schools, supermarkets, medical, child care, transport and the rest of what
AreaSearch holds), add development applications as their own layer, drop your own
points, then recolour, renumber and export the result as a table or CSV.
A this area only toggle clips everything to the boundary you are looking at.
Searches are charged against your credit balance — 1 credit per 40
results from AreaSearch data — and setting filters costs nothing until
you search. The builder works on one suburb-sized area at a time, which is why it
opens per area rather than across the whole of
Darebin - North.
Planning AuthoritiesCouncils Covering Darebin - North
Darebin - North spans 2 local government areas — Darebin and Banyule. Applications here are assessed by whichever of those councils the site falls within. AreaSearch publishes development
figures at ABS statistical boundaries rather than council boundaries. That is deliberate: the ABS
issues a separate official building-approvals series for local government areas, and totals
built up from statistical areas would not match it. Reporting at SA3 keeps every figure on this page
reconcilable with the published ABS series.
Local government area
Share of Darebin - North
Applications on record
Register read to
Darebin
100% of residents
1,637
September 2026
Banyule
0.0% of residents
1
May 2008
CompareNearby Development Hubs
The same view of building approvals, applications and
major projects for areas neighbouring Darebin - North.
Collected from council planning portals. The
earliest signal available, but the least certain: many applications are amended,
withdrawn or refused, values are the applicant’s own estimate, and coverage
varies by council. This is a curated set, not the full council feed:
AreaSearch carries applications of material scale and does not track routine minor
works such as signage, fencing or small alterations, so the counts here are lower
than a council’s own total lodgement figure and should not be compared with it. Applications still shown as under assessment more than
18 months after lodgement are reported separately
and kept out of the live-queue figures: the age profile of open applications is
sharply split between a genuine queue under a year old and a long tail of records
councils never closed. Not every state publishes a cost of works — Queensland,
the Northern Territory and the ACT publish none at all — so on those pages
applications are counted rather than valued and no dollar figure is shown
rather than a partial one. Treated here as a snapshot of the current queue only —
AreaSearch does not chart application counts over time, because the history
reflects when each portal was collected rather than when development happened.
Approved — ABS building approvals
The official series, aggregated to SA3 from
ABS building approvals data, currently published to August 2026.
Counts dwelling units approved, not buildings and not completions. The most recent
financial year is annualised from nine months of data wherever it appears and is
labelled as such.
Building — major projects
Projects tracked individually by AreaSearch
from Infrastructure Australia, state infrastructure agencies, developer disclosures
and council records. Values are estimates and delivery dates are targets. Ranked on
this page by committed value and delivery stage rather than by distance.
Delivered — verified new addresses
New residential addresses verified in the national
address register since the 2021 Census. This is the closest available measure of what has
actually been built, though address creation can lead occupation and lags
construction. It is not a completions count.
Boundaries
Darebin - North is Statistical Area Level 3 20902 in the ABS Australian Statistical Geography Standard (2021 edition), made up of 7 Statistical Areas Level 2.
It has an estimated 107,012 residents, +12.3% since the 2021 Census.
Currency
Measure
Source
To
Dwelling approvals, five-year average
ABS / AreaSearch
August 2026
House share of approvals
ABS / AreaSearch
August 2026
Residents per approval
ABS / AreaSearch
August 2026
Value per approved dwelling
ABS / AreaSearch
August 2026
Commercial work approved
ABS / AreaSearch
August 2026
Verified new addresses since the Census
Address register / AreaSearch
August 2026
Development applications
Council planning portals
September 2026
Major projects
Infrastructure Australia / state agencies / AreaSearch
Ongoing
Figures on this page are read live from the
AreaSearch database each time it loads, so they update as soon as a source does.
Development in Darebin - North — common questions
How many new dwellings were approved in Darebin - North?
The ABS recorded 988 dwelling approvals across Darebin - North in the 2025-26 financial year, against a five-year average of 804 a year.
How many development applications are lodged in Darebin - North?
AreaSearch tracks 1,645 development applications of material scale across Darebin - North — routine minor works such as signage and fencing are not included, so this is not a count of every application lodged, of which 13 remain in assessment. Applications are assessed within the Darebin and Banyule local government areas. The most recent application in our data was lodged in September 2026.
What major projects are planned for Darebin - North?
AreaSearch tracks 16 current major projects in Darebin - North, 6 of them under construction. The largest include Level Crossing Removal - North Western Program Alliance, Preston Crossing and Assemble Preston (30 St Georges Road).
Which council covers Darebin - North?
Darebin - North is an ABS Statistical Area Level 3. It is covered by parts of 2 local government areas — Darebin and Banyule. AreaSearch publishes development figures at ABS statistical boundaries rather than council boundaries, so they reconcile with the official ABS series.
Is Darebin - North growing faster than the rest of Victoria?
On development approvals, Darebin - North is adding new dwellings at about the same rate as Victoria as a whole — 0.76 approvals per 100 existing dwellings a year against the state figure of 0.80.
How current is this development data?
ABS building approvals are published with a lag of roughly four months; this page carries the series to August 2026. Development applications are collected from council planning portals and refresh continuously, with the most recent application here lodged in September 2026. Major project records are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Each section carries its own currency label so the four are never confused.
Development data is provided for general information.
Estimated values, dwelling counts and delivery dates come from the lodging or delivering party and
are not independently verified by AreaSearch. Confirm anything material with the relevant council
or agency before relying on it.