This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
THE first stage of the NSW Minns government’s Transport Oriented Development (TOD) planning reforms has kicked off with the finalisation of the State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP), which amends planning controls allowing for more housing located around 37 metro and rail stations, with 18 commencing immediately.
Over the next 15 years, this part of the TOD policy is estimated to deliver more than 170,000 new homes in mid-rise dwellings with new affordable homes, and apartment buildings that contain commercial space.
The Minns government announced in December the TOD SEPP, which identified 31 stations across 13 local government areas around which new housing is to be located within 400 metres. It also announced zoning and governance changes that would allow higher-density housing within 800 metres of transport hubs and town centres, with the state government allowing itself to overrule local councils on planning decisions.
This month it expanded the number of stations from 31 to 37 with the addition of Cardiff, Cockle Creek, Belmore, Lakemba, Punchbowl and Woy Woy.
“The NSW government is committed to tackling the housing crisis. If we don’t build more houses, families will up and leave because they can’t afford a home in NSW. And if we lose our young people, we lose our future,” Minister for Planning and Public Space Paul Scully said.
“Housing is the largest single cost of living issue facing the people of NSW.
“These reforms are a critical part of our plan to deliver more homes as we confront the housing crisis.”
The SEPP, now published, includes maps for the first 18 TOD locations. Development applications can be lodged from 13th May on the NSW Planning Portal for sites around these stations.
For the remaining locations where time for additional local planning has been provided, should councils fail to undertake local planning, nor provide equal or greater housing than proposed, the TOD SEPP will come into effect.
The government said the majority of sites will be in effect by December.
There is a mandatory affordable housing contribution of 2% for developments, delivered on-site and in perpetuity for developments with a minimum gross floor area (GFA) of 2,000 sqm, managed by a community housing provider (CHP). The rate will increase over time and will reflect market conditions.
Planning controls have allowed for a maximum floor-space ratio of 2.5:1, allowing for buildings of up to six storeys while providing for landscaping, setback, privacy and open space standards to be met. A 22-metre height limit is set and a maximum height of 24 metres for buildings containing shop top housing, to accommodate commercial ceiling height.
A minimum lot width of 21 metres will be introduced, with no minimum lot size.
Applications involving heritage considerations will continue to be lodged with and assessed by councils.
Developer representative body voices concerns
The NSW government garnered consultation and feedback from 13 councils and 14 peak industry bodies in developing the SEPP.
The Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA) NSW said yesterday that while TOD is “acknowledged as the global gold standard for increasing housing density”, the development industry representative organisation is “concerned some aspects of the SEPP do not to take into account the industry’s capacity to deliver housing, in particular the current challenges with development feasibility and the need for future investment certainty”.
National Cabinet’s National Housing Accord is set to kick off in July with the aim of delivering 1.2 million “well-located homes” across the country, concurrently with the $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund social and affordable housing delivery program. The targets are considered farfetched by analysts amid a severe construction labour shortage, current low approval and completion rates and planning red tape.
“While UDIA welcomes today’s progress, we caution that even if we deliver the estimated additional 11,000 homes per year under the TOD program, this is still only 15% of NSW’s annual target under the National Housing Accord,” said Gavin Melvin, acting CEO, UDIA NSW.
“With the most recent Australian Bureau of Statistics data release showing apartment completions at an 11-year low in NSW, we are getting further way from the National Housing Accord targets.”
The UDIA recommended a full 3:1 FSR to be delivered, and said that winding back the FSR to 2.5:1 means fewer sites where housing can be delivered.
It said the current provisions surrounding affordable housing would be “unworkable” for many developers, who may choose to not lodge plans.
“While a 2% contribution is modest, we note that the contribution must be 2% of GFA, as opposed to a monetary contribution. This has several potential flaws. For example, if 2% GFA is less than a single unit, how will this be managed?”
“Additionally, it will be impractical for many CHPs to manage just 2% GFA in buildings in perpetuity (which, for example, in a 50-unit apartment is only one unit). Our CHPs members have told us their strong preference is to own and operate larger numbers of homes in a single building, as it brings economies of scale.”
The UDIA also said that, with no schedule of dates provided for the other 19 (and potentially more) future TOD sites in the program, there is no guarantee when these sites will go live,
“This creates significant uncertainty and impacts developers’ confidence in being able to invest around the TOD precincts.”
