UDIA Submission to Sydney Water Draft DSP Developer Charges

UDIA’s submission to the public exhibition of draft developer charges for water and wastewater strongly recommends that Sydney Water keeps these charges, known as Development Servicing Plans (DSPs), set to zero. We also recommend deferring the reintroduction of DSPs until such time as the full suite of infrastructure contributions reforms is implemented by the NSW Government and productivity gains to offset new costs are proven.

The DSP charges were set to zero in 2008 in recognition of the challenging economic conditions experienced during the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). UDIA contends that the global inflationary pressures being experienced now, resulting from the disruption of the global pandemic, is creating equal or worse conditions. Once considering the cumulative impact of developer charges in NSW, both new and existing, it is clear that housing supply and affordability will be significantly impacted under the weight of increased charges.

Our submission outlines reasonable recommendations for a more optimal policy setting should a decision be made to implement DSPs.