Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 123 10 actions to drive Sydney’s Housing Supply and Affordability 6 ESTABLISH A ONE STOP SHOP TO SPEED UP REFERRALS TO GOVERNMENT AGENCIES ON HOUSING PROJECTS Most of the 40 large projects caught up in the planning process in Sydney are waiting for state government agencies to undertake studies to assess impact. Traffic studies, water management, electricity load assessments or relationships to rail corridors have added significant time to the planning process. In Queensland the government created a one stop government agency to drive efficient responses called the State Assessment and Referral Agency (SARA) with tight time KPIs to drive quick responses. Sydney can adopt a similar approach. See more on page 9 1 FAST TRACK HOUSING PROJECTS CAUGHT IN THE PLANNING SYSTEM The Urban Taskforce has asked its developer members for examples of large housing projects that are caught up in the planning system. Across Metropolitan Sydney there are 50 projects that contain 50,000 potential new homes that are caught up with blockages in the planning system. The quickest way to have an impact on housing supply is to unlock these projects and to negotiate around the blockages. In New Zealand a ‘fast track’ approval process has been implemented in Auckland to help with their housing crisis. Sydney needs to adopt a similar approach with senior people appointed to drive actions to increase housing delivery. The appointment of a Director and 6 Managers of Housing Delivery by the NSW Government is a good start. See more on page 5, 6 and 7 7 RESTRUCTURE PLANNING PROPOSAL PROCESSES TO SUPPORT CHANGING ENVIRONMENT The Department of Planning issued a guide to preparing planning proposals in September 2016 that strengthened the strategic merit test that determined when a planning proposal can be submitted related to current Local Environmental Plans. Clearly change is happening fast with announcements about new Metro Rail Lines changing where density should be located. There must be a clear process for flexible planning proposals that respond to new parameters. See more on page 10 2 USE GOVERNMENT OWNED LAND TO BUILD SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING The NSW Government has significant land holdings in Sydney and urban renewal proposals on these sites should include a good percentage of affordable housing. This will reduce the sale price of the land but it will demonstrate leadership in the delivery of affordable housing. The Communities Plus program of renewing social housing estates by including private and affordable housing can deliver large numbers of new homes. See more on page 5 8 DEVELOP A COMPLYING CODE FOR 6 STOREY APARTMENTS WITH QUICK APPROVALS The Urban Taskforce with architect Peter Smith has developed a two page code to define the important parameters for the design of mid-rise apartments. The adoption of this code would encourage developers to produce this housing type which is similar to the scale of urban housing in Paris and Barcelona. The NSW Government has recently promoted the 'Missing Middle' where terrace and townhouses become complying development. The next step is to include mid-rise apartments that are below 25 metres in height. See more on page 10 3 UPDATE THE AFFORDABLE RENTAL HOUSING SEPP TO PROVIDE 40,000 AFFORDABLE HOMES OVER 10 YEARS The Urban Taskforce has proposed to government a simple way to provide up to 40,000 new affordable rental homes over a 10 year period by improving the Affordable Rental Housing SEPP 2009 to give a real incentive to the development industry to provide housing at 20% below existing rentals. We see this as being a better approach than inclusionary zoning that adds a tax to the project. See more on page 8 9 ENSURE VALUE CAPTURE AND INFRASTRUCTURE CONTRIBUTIONS DO NOT STOP HOUSING PROJECTS All levels of government have been promoting the concept of value capture as an extra tax on the cost of new housing. New housing along the route of the proposed Parramatta Light Rail will need to pay $200 a square metre which will add $20,000 to the cost of a 100 square metre apartment. We have issued a research publication titled 'Value Capture is Not a Magic Pudding' and a recent report from Infrastructure Australia takes a similar position. Housing supply and affordability could be affected by excessive contributions to infrastructure. See more on page 11 4 REMOVE RESTRICTIVE ZONING IN CENTRES AND ON INDUSTRIAL LAND THAT STOPS NEW HOUSING The recent District Plans exhibited by the Greater Sydney Commission changed previous definitions of uses in District and Strategic Centres to remove high density housing in favour of commercial only zoning. We support mixed use environments where people can live and work in centres. The District Plans also introduced a precautionary principle for industrial land that is in transition to favour existing jobs. Many industrial jobs have moved out to the M7 in Western Sydney and these sites are ideal for mixed use development. See more on page 8 10 SUPPORT STAMP DUTY REFORMS AND INSTITUTIONAL FUNDING FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING The Urban Taskforce supports broader reforms of state taxes particularly related to stamp duty that adds to the cost of all housing purchases. A broad based land tax would appear to be a fairer way to collect funds from the uplift in value that comes with new infrastructure and higher densities. We also support the involvement of institutional funding from superannuation funds and other funds to support an affordable rental housing asset class. See more on page 11 5 REMOVE EXCESSIVE COST ADDING STANDARDS IN SEPP 65 FOR CBD AREAS The NSW Apartment Design Guide has incorporated requirements well above the requirements in other states in Australia. Councils tend to interpret these guidelines as absolute rules. In Victoria after a 2 year review of apartment standards most of the NSW/Sydney standards were not adopted which supports the fact that average Melbourne apartments are $250,000 cheaper than average Sydney apartments. The Sydney standards must be reduced particularly in CBD areas of high density. See more on page 9