Background

The Department of Planning is introducing new reforms which will allow residential flat buildings, terraces, townhouses, and duplexes in zones where they have historically not been permitted.

Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, Paul Scully, has indicated that these reforms are modelled on suburbs including Wollstonecraft, Waverton, and Erskineville, “where terraces sit side-by-side duplexes, walk-up flats, and higher-density apartment buildings”.[1]

The need for reform

The changes are forecast to permit more than 110,000 new homes in the Greater Sydney region, Hunter, Central Coast, and Illawarra[2] and are being implemented in an effort to address these regions’ housing crisis.

Mr Scully noted Sydney as “one of the least dense cities in the world”, commenting that “building out” is no longer feasible.[3] Therefore, the focus has shifted to permitting construction of low-and mid-rise residential buildings in areas that previously would not permit such development.

Those areas which are to be the subject of the reforms have been selected principally based on proximity to public transport, shops, parks, and other amenities.

Legislative changes

Mr Scully reported that the NSW Government has identified two key features in progressing the reforms:

  • only two of 32 local environmental plans with low density (R2) zoning allow terraces and 1-2 story unit blocks; and
  • residential flat buildings of any scale are prohibited in 60% of medium density (R3) zones across NSW.

The reforms will be incorporated into a State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP) and councils will be encouraged to amend their local environmental plan to add these development typologies, such as residential flat buildings, terraces, townhouses, and duplexes, as permissible uses in medium density zones, in their planning instruments.[4] The draft SEPP is set to be released in the near future.

The reforms will affect R3-zoned areas and increase housing in areas nearby employment and public transport.

The NSW Government has a target of facilitating the delivery of 377,000 new homes by 2029 under the Housing Accord, and the increase of houses these reforms will allow constitutes 30% of this target.[5]

Commencement of reforms

The Department has indicated the reforms will be finalised by mid-2024. More detail has been published in its “Explanation of Intended Effect” which has recently been the subject of community consultation.

[1] Terrace, duplex vision puts Minns on collision course with councils (afr.com)

[2] Terrace, duplex vision puts Minns on collision course with councils (afr.com)

[3] New planning rules to fast track low and mid rise housing | Planning (nsw.gov.au)

[4] New planning rules to fast track low and mid rise housing | Planning (nsw.gov.au)

[5] New planning rules to fast track low and mid rise housing | Planning (nsw.gov.au)