The housing shortfall in Sydney is likely to nudge 9,000 properties by the end of the year, according to new figures.

Urban taskforce CEO Aaron Gadiel is arguing that the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics confirms that Sydney's housing shortfall is "running well short of government projections". Just 13,200 new homes were homes were completed by the private sector in the last six months of 2010: the second worst result for that half since 1987.

" Sydney's new home construction is entirely out-of-kilter with the upbeat projections issued by the NSW Department of Planning just 12 months ago," said Gadiel. "This was based on their projection that Sydney's supply of new housing would reach 24,900 homes in 2010/2011, and soar to 27,000 homes soon after."

"Yet, today's figures tell us that - even with a massive one-off 14.9% public housing boost - just 16,100 new homes are likely to be completed. This is 8,800 less homes than projected by the former government."

Gadiel added that red tape and high development levies was responsible for the lack of building activity.

In inner suburban areas where transport infrastructure is good, planning rules have been used to prevent new pedestrian-friendly apartment construction from getting off the ground," said Gadiel. "In Western Sydney, a mixture of poor land release policies and a lack of government infrastructure investment have prevented enough new suburbs being built."