The UNSW Housing Analytics Lab, in Sydney’s Tech Central, brings together academic experts, industry, government and not-for-profits to co-design solutions and inform critical future planning.
NSW Premier Chris Minns, NSW Minister for Housing and Homelessness Rose Jackson and NSW Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully officially opened the facility on 19 May 2025, which is equipped with innovative technology including live dashboards of real-time planning approvals and a generative AI Assistant to forecast the impact of planning policies.
The City Futures Research Centre at UNSW Arts, Design and Architecture was awarded a $1 million grant by the Office of the NSW Chief Scientist to establish the Housing Analytics Lab. The research space centralises housing data from different areas in the sector to find breakthroughs to problems like affordability, the shortfall of social homes and the stifled development pipeline.
Project lead, Scientia Professor Chris Pettit, Director of the City Futures Research Centre, said the Housing Analytics Lab would disseminate real-time evidence to key players to inform future planning and decision-making.
“With the nation facing significant housing challenges, it’s vital that researchers, government and industry work together using the most robust data and analytical tools to inform policy,” Prof. Pettit said. “Having the space with the capabilities of the Housing Analytics Lab at our disposal means we can all come together and co-design much-needed solutions backed by data.”
Led by UNSW, the Lab is a partnership between Commonwealth Bank, Mirvac, NSW Tenants’ Union, National Shelter, Australian Urban Research Infrastructure Network (AURIN), Housing Australia, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC), CHIA NSW, Frontier SI, Housing Australia, PEXA, and SGS Economics and Planning.
The Housing Analytics Lab continues the important work of ARDC co-investment project, the Australian Housing Data Analytics Platform (AHDAP), which connects academics, government, industry and communities to the best available data, analytics and insights to assist in solving the challenges facing Australia’s housing future. The ARDC is continuing its support for research-accessible housing data through the new Housing Analytics Lab alongside AURIN, demonstrating the importance of national digital research infrastructure enabled by the Australian Government National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS).
NSW Premier Minns said establishing this important facility is a key part of tackling the state’s housing crisis. “This facility brings together the experts and the data, giving us key insights as we address the housing crisis,” he said. “We need universities that can translate research into real-world solutions — exactly what UNSW is doing here.
“As this lab shows, universities are absolutely essential institutions which, at their very best, can help us solve the problems of our day. And there’s no greater problem facing this country than housing.”
The Lab is a hub for housing experts and community members to develop and launch products and services addressing housing challenges. These include:
“We can use real-time housing datasets and the power of machine learning to explore multiple planning scenarios with live feedback,” Prof. Pettit said. “This will help provide decision-makers with the ability to assess the impacts of different policy options before implementation.
“We’ll also use the Lab to train the next generation of city shapers in digital literacy, upskilling them with insights and knowledge on new data analytics and AI solutions.”
UNSW’s Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Attila Brungs, said the Housing Analytics Lab demonstrates how the University’s world-leading researchers are fostering collaboration to positively impact society.
“The housing crisis is a complex policy challenge that can only be addressed through genuine collaboration across sectors,” Prof. Brungs said.
“By bringing together the deep expertise of UNSW researchers, the decision-making ability of government, the resources and reach of industry and the vital contributions of not-for-profits, the Housing Analytics Lab launched today will help deliver solutions that benefit all Australians.”
The Commonwealth Bank is one of the Lab’s key partners. The bank’s Dr Michael Baumann, Executive General Manager for Home Buying, said helping Australians achieve home ownership ambitions is a top priority.
“Through supporting initiatives like the UNSW Housing Analytics Lab, we are helping to foster cross-industry collaboration to address housing supply and affordability challenges in Australia.”
Learn more about the UNSW Housing Analytics Lab.
This article is based on a media release from UNSW.
The ARDC is enabled by the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) to support national digital research infrastructure for Australian researchers.
