UDIA welcomes today’s announcement to accelerate rezoning applications for up to 5,800 homes but notes that at 8% it falls well short of the 70,000 new homes targeted to be delivered by June 2024 in NSW from the accelerated rezoning, when the program was first announced.
UDIA supported the State Assessed Planning Proposal (SAPP) pilot program launched in December last year, which enabled industry to nominate rezoning proposals that could be state-assessed if they delivered more than 1,000 dwellings in metropolitan NSW, or at least 300 dwellings in regional NSW.
The NSW Government still has enormous work to do to achieve its stated goal of accelerating rezonings to reach its target.
Current completion of housing in NSW remains 25% below where it needs to be to reach 314,000 well located homes being our fair share of the National Housing Accord.
“While we acknowledge the reasons noted for the 6 months delay in announcing the successful applications, the urgency with which SAPP projects need to progress is evident from these concerning figures,” said Steve Mann, CEO, UDIA NSW.
UDIA NSW encourages the Government to seize the opportunity that the State Assessed Planning Proposal pathway provided and continue implementing accelerated rezoning pathways to reach the target to help meet the chronic housing supply shortage facing NSW.
“The NSW Government has been clear in its commitment to tackling the housing and rent crisis by boosting housing supply and increasing densities in accessible locations. To achieve this, new policies like SAPP must be well-designed and effectively implemented,” said Mr Mann.
UDIA believes there is an opportunity to focus on precinct scale developments which could deliver large numbers of new homes that use regional scale planning to address environmental and social considerations and create vibrant, attractive and liveable communities.
“Government needs to ensure its housing policies enable approvals for development ready projects that deliver new homes for the people of NSW,” added Mr Mann.
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Media enquiries, please contact Deanna Lane on 0416 295 898 or dlane @udiansw.com.au