The research, commissioned by the Property Council of Australia and prepared by Solve Property Group, examined 424 industrial precincts across Greater Sydney, the Hunter and Central Coast, and Illawarra Shoalhaven. It found NSW has substantial industrial land identified on paper, but the challenge is converting that land to be serviced, accessible and development ready.
The findings will be released at the Property Council’s NSW Industrial & Logistics Summit in Sydney today, where industry leaders, planners and investors will examine how NSW can convert industrial land shown in planning documents into real economic capacity.
Property Council NSW Executive Director Katie Stevenson said industrial land was the hidden infrastructure behind housing construction, online shopping, freight movement, digital infrastructure and everyday supply chains.
“Industrial land underpins the warehouses, freight hubs, building suppliers, data centres, logistics businesses and urban services that keep goods moving and support a growing NSW.
“Every new housing estate needs somewhere to store, stage and distribute building materials and every growing community needs freight, logistics, repair services, trade suppliers and local employment close to where people live.
“If NSW cannot deliver enough serviced industrial land in the right locations to support this growth, the cost is ultimately felt by businesses, consumers and home buyers.”
The report projects employment across industrial precincts will grow from around 562,000 jobs in 2021 to almost 799,000 jobs by 2036, an increase of more than 42 per cent, reinforcing the need for NSW to maintain a pipeline of development-ready industrial land capable of supporting investment, freight movement and employment growth.
“The issue is not simply how much industrial land is zoned, it’s whether that land has the roads, freight access, water, sewer, electricity and planning settings needed to support businesses and jobs,” Ms Stevenson said.
The research found official headline land supply figures can overstate practical industrial capacity unless they distinguish between land that is zoned, undeveloped, serviced, market-available and capable of supporting development.
Greater Sydney has 4,228 hectares of industrial land supply, including 2,035 hectares of short-to-medium term supply subject to servicing and 2,192 hectares of longer-term potential supply. This is materially lower than the amount of undeveloped industrial land declared in government monitoring because not all zoned land is capable of being delivered in the near term.
“Land may be zoned for industrial use, but still be constrained by infrastructure timing, freight access, utility capacity, environmental constraints, fragmented ownership, development controls or lack of market availability,” Ms Stevenson said.
Ms Stevenson said the research reinforced the importance of the NSW Government’s Industrial Lands Action Plan released in January 2025, which recognised the need for a statewide industrial land pipeline and better coordination of infrastructure investment.
“The NSW Government has taken important steps through the Industrial Lands Action Plan, but this research shows the next phase must be relentlessly focused on delivery.
“That means infrastructure sequencing, clearer land supply data, faster resolution of servicing constraints and planning controls that allow industrial land to be renewed and used efficiently.”
The Property Council is calling on the NSW Government to:
- Accelerate investment in transport, freight, water, sewer, electricity and other enabling infrastructure needed to convert industrial-zoned land into development-ready capacity.
- Improve reporting on development-ready industrial land, including servicing constraints, infrastructure delivery timing, freight accessibility and market availability.
- Work with landowners and industry to validate future industrial land monitoring and identify sites that are zoned but not practically developable or market available.
- Plan for critical industrial outdoor storage, freight, logistics and digital infrastructure needs alongside future industrial land release and servicing decisions.
“NSW needs a more accurate understanding of development-ready industrial land if we are going to plan effectively for future growth and maintain the state’s economic competitiveness.
“The question is no longer how much industrial land has been identified on a map – it’s how much of that land can be serviced, accessed, developed, occupied and used to support jobs, investment and productivity.
“The release of The Sydney Plan and the Statewide Policy for Industrial Lands last week provides a clearer framework for protecting and managing industrial land, but delivery will depend on turning that framework into serviced, development-ready supply.
“That is why we are bringing industry leaders, planners and policymakers together at our Industrial Land Summit today to focus on practical solutions that can unlock development-ready industrial land and support housing delivery, jobs and economic growth across NSW,” Ms Stevenson said.
