NSW’s revamped planning pathway is reshaping the state’s future housing pipeline and tightening delivery time frames for large projects.
The NSW government has said the Housing Delivery Authority (HDA) has assembled a pipeline of about 150,000 potential homes in just 18 months by declaring hundreds of large residential proposals as state significant and pushing them into an accelerated approvals track across Greater Sydney and regional NSW.
In its latest round, the authority has recommended 94 additional proposals for state significant status, adding more than 22,000 potential dwellings to the streamlined pathway and clearing a backlog of expressions of interest.
If all 484 declared projects are ultimately lodged and approved, the government said they could produce more than 134,000 homes in Greater Sydney and close to 16,400 in regional areas, including designated affordable housing.
So far, 14 HDA projects have been granted planning approval, unlocking more than 2,500 homes, while a further 74 development applications have been lodged, representing around 26,000 dwellings now moving through assessment.
Planning and Public Spaces Minister Paul Scully said the latest figures underlined that the pathway was changing how substantial projects moved through the system.
“The Housing Delivery Authority is delivering real results for housing in NSW, creating a pipeline of more than 150,000 potential homes so families, young people and downsizers can find a home sooner,” he said.
Time frames designed to drive construction
A key feature of the HDA is the time discipline it imposes once proponents are accepted into the pathway.
Developers must lodge their state significant development applications within nine months of receiving Secretary’s Environmental Assessment Requirements, and construction is expected to start within 12 months of project approval.
Scully said the depth of projects now in train explained why the government had locked the pathway in as an ongoing fixture.
“The initiative has far exceeded expectations and each of the homes currently in the pipeline demonstrate why we made it a permanent planning pathway,” he said.
“It has been crucial to the Minns Labor Government’s broader plan to increase supply right across the state, helping NSW have more homes under construction than any other state.”
Looking ahead, Scully said that the focus was shifting from headline pipeline numbers to delivery.
“I look forward to seeing these HDA projects progress through the planning system to then become the homes NSW needs,” he said.
[Related: NSW, Qld budgets reveal fresh housing measures]
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