The NSW government says a new low and mid-rise housing policy is expected to unlock 112,000 new homes over the next five years. From Friday, planning rules across the state will be changed to allow dual-occupancies, terraces, townhouses, and residential flats within an 800-metre radius of 171 town centres and stations. The policy aims to tackle housing affordability by filling the gap between high-rise apartments and suburban sprawl.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00In the race to build 377,000 homes by 2029, New South Wales is lagging.
00:10Research by the Housing Industry Association reveals just how far the state's predicted
00:14to fall short.
00:15Something in the vicinity of 120,000 homes.
00:19With present activity levels, we're on track to build only about 250,000.
00:24The Minsk government was meant to have finalised its so-called missing middle policy in December,
00:29instead it'll begin in a week's time.
00:32For each month that we've been waiting for the policy, somewhere between 2,500 and 4,000
00:37homes have been lost.
00:38Look, we wanted to get it right.
00:40Planning controls will change at 171 locations, mostly across Sydney.
00:45They'll apply to residential zone land within about a 10-minute walk of town centres and
00:50stations.
00:51This is expected to deliver 112,000 homes in these areas.
00:56Duplexes and townhouses of up to three storeys and apartment blocks of up to four storeys
01:01will be allowed within 800 metres of centres.
01:04Buildings of up to six storeys will be permitted within 400 metres.
01:08But even those limits may not be enough to make building new housing profitable.
01:13In eastern Sydney, land values are really expensive and so it's hard for those projects
01:18to get underway.
01:19Developments that preserve at least 15% of floor space for affordable housing can exceed
01:24the usual height limit by up to 30%.
01:27On this street near the heart of Double Bay, that could mean apartment blocks of eight
01:31storeys.
01:33The changes will apply in heritage conservation areas like Paddington, although heritage items
01:38will be immune.
01:39Willara's Mayor worries local character is at risk.
01:43It could mean that a row of terraces could sit next to a taller, mid-rise apartment block.
01:48The Government says developments in such an area must maintain or enhance its heritage.
01:54That will still be for councils to decide.