The New South Wales Housing Delivery Authority (HDA) has already received close to 100 proposals – with the potential to deliver 40,000 new homes – in the three weeks since it started accepting Expressions of Interest (EOI).
So far, 85 EOIs in metropolitan areas and 11 in regional New South Wales have been received, exceeding expectations.
The HDA offers proponents a new State Significant Development pathway and State Significant Development pathway with a concurrent rezoning process – neither having to be approved by councils, cutting approval times and speeding up the delivery of new homes.
Each EOI is assessed against its capacity to deliver high yield, well-located, good quality homes faster.
Having identified that major residential developments above $60 million in metropolitan areas and $30 million in regional New South Wales often take longer in their assessment, these can now be submitted through the HDA.
The New South Wales Government has said that these complex proposals often require greater resources and planning capabilities and as a result, the projects can get stuck in council planning systems for years. These delays compound declining housing availability, worsening affordability and create greater uncertainty for proponents who are trying to build much needed new homes.
In early February, the HDA will meet to recommend proposals to be declared a State Significant Development (SSD) project, so community consultation and assessment can then proceed.
The EOI process is ongoing, providing regular opportunities for industry to have their major residential development proposals considered, with submissions reviewed monthly.
New South Wales Premier, Chris Minns, said that it has been made harder and harder for people to build homes in New South Wales, and he is pleased to see these reforms starting to turn that around.
“Without these major changes that are speeding up the delivery of new homes, Sydney risks becoming a city without a future because it’s simply too expensive to put a roof over your head,” Premier Minns said.
“By speeding up the approval of new homes near existing infrastructure and removing red tape, we’re delivering the homes that young people, families and workers need.”
New South Wales Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, Paul Scully, said that the HDA expected 80 to 100 EOIs in the first year, so to see this many in less than a month signals trust from the industry in the State Government to deliver.
“Building more homes for New South Wales is a priority for the State Government and the HDA is a major step towards unlocking those homes,” Minister Scully said.
“This pathway is about seeing good quality projects move through the planning system faster and as part of that process, if we don’t see shovels in the ground in two years, proponent will lose their approval.
“The State Government is making it easier to build more houses closer to jobs, infrastructure, parks and transport and we need more quality, large scale residential development proposals from industry to build a better New South Wales.”
For more information visit Housing Delivery Authority online.
