In the first three weeks since the Housing Delivery Authority (HDA) started accepting Expressions of Interest (EOI) for larger scale housing developments, it has already received nearly 100 proposals with the potential for more than 40,000 homes, with more expected.
So far, 85 EOIs in metropolitan areas and 11 in regional NSW 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 NSW often take longer in their assessment, these can now be submitted through the HDA.
These complex proposals often require greater resources and planning capabilitites 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, community consultation and assessment will then proceed.
The EOI process is ongoing, providing regular opportunities for industry to have their major residential development proposals considered, with submissions reviewed monthly.
For more information visit Housing Delivery Authority | Planning
Premier for New South Wales:
"For far too long, it has been made harder and harder for people to build homes in NSW, so it is wonderful 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.
"By speeding up the approval of new homes near existing infrastructure and removing red tape that seems to have been designed to slow down development, we're delivering the homes that young people, families and workers need."
Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully said:
"We 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 Minns Government to deliver.
"Building more homes for NSW is a priority for the Minns Labor Government and the HDA is a major step towards unlocking those homes.
"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 Minns 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 NSW."
