Home Property Australia Greater housing density coming to Sydney’s train stations

Greater housing density coming to Sydney’s train stations

  • May 01, 2024
  • by Property Australia
Planning Minister Paul Scully

The first stage of the NSW Government’s Transport Oriented Development (TOD) planning reforms has now been delivered, with the finalisation of the State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP).

The new SEPP will amend planning controls 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 to create vibrant communities close to transport, services and jobs.

Minister for Planning and Public Space Paul Scully said these reforms are a critical part of the government’s plans to deliver more home. 

“Though this SEPP, there is the capacity to deliver an estimated 170,000 more well-located, well-designed and well-built homes throughout Sydney, the Illawarra, the Hunter and Central Coast.

“The extensive consultation has been an important part of developing the settings to help deliver more housing in well located areas, around transport hubs, close to services, jobs and amenities.

“I want to thank those councils who came to us with a plan to deliver more homes and look forward to seeing the plans as they evolve.”

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 majority of the sites will be in effect by December 2024.

From 13 May 2024, development applications (DAs) can be lodged on the NSW Planning Portal for sites around the first 18 metro and rail stations.

Property Council NSW Executive Director, Katie Stevenson applauded the government for its “bold and significant planning reforms”.

“It’s good to see the NSW Government have listened to industry and sought to address concerns around the floor space ratio, lot size and width, and street frontage controls”.

Ms Stevenson said that while the release of the SEPP represents an important milestone in the NSW Government’s reform journey, industry will be disappointed with the decision not to address concerns around building heights.

“Industry was adamant that the height controls under the TOD SEPP would need to double to make delivering the next wave of homes commercially viable.

“It is disappointing to see that these calls have fallen on deaf ears and the NSW Government will proceed with height controls that are effectively no different to what will be allowed under the mid-rise planning reform.”

Ms Stevenson said the TOD SEPP represents a once in a generation opportunity to reshape the future pattern of development in NSW so it’s unclear why the NSW Government has made it harder than necessary to add future sites to the SEPP by having it apply in selected local government areas, rather than statewide.

“There is still a major spatial gap in the TOD Program across Greater Sydney which this SEPP should have addressed.

“To give industry the certainty and confidence it needs to invest, we’re calling on the government to announce a timetable so that the community and industry know when to expect future tranches of TOD sites to be announced.

“It’s also vital that sites selected in future tranches of this program are more equitably distributed throughout our city, so that more homes are provided right across Sydney and the regions in line with the Premier’s original vision.

The Property Council is also concerned with the requirement for affordable housing to be held in-perpetuity under the Tier Two Program.

“While we support the need for more affordable housing, particularly in these critical areas undergoing significant change, an in-perpetuity requirement will place further pressure on already strained development feasibilities.

“Under incredibly challenging market dynamics, mandatory affordable housing requirements must be carefully calibrated and subject to serious viability testing.

“For this to work, Government must change the current definitions of affordable housing and rethink the approach to managing and monitoring affordable housing stock,” said Ms Stevenson.

The government also announced a $5.6 million investment to give local government councils the opportunity to trail AI in their local planning systems. 

Councils collaborating on joint grant applications could receive up to $500,000, while single council applications could be eligible for up to $200,000 to trial the identified technologies.

Council staff determine development applications for approximately 85 percent of all new homes in NSW. This funding will allow councils to trial recommended AI technologies and encourage innovative ways to accelerate DA assessments.