Friday, 8 August 2025

In this Edition...

1. Council report card - first year of National Housing Accord

2. Sanity (and sanctity) prevail in Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney development win over the City of Sydney

3. ACTU announces housing affordability as a key “roundtable issue”- but can’t see the elephant in the room

...and much, much more.

4. Construction costs for apartments still rising
5. Coffs Harbour sound wall impasse resolved
6. “Entitled” Mosman NIMBY to take on Minns Government’s LMR reforms
7. NIMBYs getting restless in the Inner West
8. Modular Housing builder Grove drives savings for new home buyers
9. Urban Taskforce in the news Hansard
10. "Coronation Cares" launches 2025 Community Grants Program
11. Federal Government to lift international student numbers
12. News from DPHI
13. Elizabeth Drive upgrade partially opens to traffic
14. Productivity Commission releases two more reform discussion papers
15. Spotlight on excellence - best social-affordable development
16. Council Watch
17. Members in the news

1. Council report card - first year of National Housing Accord

Housing approvals data crunched by the ABS for the first 12 months of the National Housing Accord, broken down into LGAs, are in - and they shine a clear spotlight on who is keeping up, those struggling, and those who either cannot or will not deliver on the housing required of them under the Accord.

Urban Taskforce measured the housing approvals issued in each LGA for the 12 months to June 2025 (representing the first full year of the National Housing Accord) against the annual completions target needed over the five years to the end of June 2029.

Only Burwood, Hawkesbury and Canada Bay Council's housing approvals exceeded the annual completion targets.

The case of Burwood Council (68% above requirements) shows that where there is political will and a constructive approach, well-located housing can be delivered in the timeframes set out by the Accord, without losing local community support. 

The bottom ten councils generally came as no surprise, comprising of Northern and Eastern Suburbs councils, along with Strathfield Council.

All these councils are tracking well below where they need to be in terms of approvals.

Since the local Government elections, Waverley Council has a more positive agenda when it comes to housing, but the results have not yet flowed through.  However, councils like Woollahra and North Sydney are digging in their heels when it comes to delivering a fairer share of housing. Planning administrators cannot be ruled out in cases where a council is either unwilling or unable to deliver what is required of them under the Accord.

While it is fair to allow for some “ramp-up” time, it is worth noting that the Housing Accord was signed off in October 2022, and the revised national target of 1.2 million completed dwellings was decided upon in August 2023.  The Accord period didn’t commence until July 1, 2024.

The ABS data backs in the need for the Minns Government’s planning reforms, particularly the Housing Delivery Authority and its state significant planning pathway. The Minister for Planning has already declared proposals representing almost 70,000 new dwellings as state significant. This pathway is key to NSW meeting the National Housing Accord requirements.

At the end of the day, the HDA may save poor performing councils from failing to come anywhere near what is required of them in terms of housing supply.

Attention must now turn to obstacles to converting approvals into completions within the Accord timeframe – with the focus on lifting productivity, removing unnecessary red tape, boosting project feasibility and addressing labour and skill shortages.

Urgent work is also required to speed up the approval of new greenfield dwellings – which have flat-lined and are too low to offer housing choice for many young families looking to stay in Sydney.

2.  Sanity (and sanctity) prevail in Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney development win over the City of Sydney

In the face of opposition from (who else but?) the City of Sydney Council and the Heritage Council, the Land and Environment Court has found in favour of the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney over its appeal against the rejection of its proposal for a new Chancery. 

The application originally proposed the construction of a six-storey building on a part of the St Mary’s Cathedral grounds between the Cathedral and Chapter Hall that is currently being used as a car park. 

The City of Sydney Council, supported by the Heritage Council, opposed the development on a number of grounds, some spurious, as is their wont, claiming it: 

• exceeded building height limits;
• did not exhibit design excellence;
• was not covered by a master plan for the precinct;
• was an inappropriate design with unacceptable heritage (and archaeological) impacts;
• had poor landscape design; and
• did not demonstrate sustainable development.

Amended plans proposed 2 storeys with a third below ground level.

The approved new Chancery Building

In a decision handed down by Commissioner Tim Horton, the Court approved the amended proposal, finding that: 

• despite never having previously raised concerns, the Council was using an interpretation of the LEP to argue that nothing could be built on the site higher than the existing car park.  The Commissioner ruled that the land “is not limited to the site itself, but encompasses all of the land within the St Mary’s Cathedral Precinct”, which means that the maximum height allowable is the “topmost point of the cathedral spires” of the Cathedral itself; 
• “the proposal adopts formal design principles that are appropriate to the building type and location such as repetition and modularity that is common to the Gothic style, and symmetry when viewed on any single elevation”, so design excellence principles are not at issue;
• while there was some uncertainty as to whether a masterplan existed, the Court was satisfied that master planning had been carried out as part of the development;
• claims that the project had not addressed “the bulk, massing, and modulation of the building envelope”, and thus were potentially damaging to the heritage of the site, were not supported. 

According to the Commissioner, the height, bulk, scale, and setbacks from existing buildings were “well considered and respectful” and likely to be a “unifying element when viewed from St Mary’s Road”; and

• the reports provided by the Archdiocese demonstrated sufficient compliance with sustainable design requirements, the Court ruled. 

In his ruling, the Commissioner did not just reserve his criticism for the City. 

The Heritage Council, which joined the City in its opposition to the project, also drew criticism from Commissioner Horton. Those on the Board that forced their new Chair into giving expert evidence have shown in clear terms why they should be replaced.

In the Court’s orders, the Commissioner also considered proposed conditions of consent.  He accepted most of them, but found against the City on the following two contested conditions: 

• Condition 14 would have required a significant Affordable Housing Contribution, based on the total GFA for the development and costing close to $450,000, but the Court ruled that the Church – being a non-profit community organisation – would be exempt. 

The Archdiocese agreed to pay a levy only for the 124 sqm retail component of the development, costing them only $30,000; and

• Condition 72 sought to limit construction hours, but the Commissioner found that the site was relatively isolated and that the buildings in the precinct are within the Archdiocese’s control, so “it is in the interests of the Archdiocese to manage noise and hours of construction”, particularly given the need to manage disruption to the school. 

By our count, that’s a 7-0 scoreline in favour of the Sydney Catholic Archdiocese!

The decision is a shot across the bow for the City and the Heritage Council – a warning not to over-reach when assessing applications. 

We wonder if they’ll ever learn???

3. ACTU announces housing affordability as a key “roundtable issue”- but can’t see the elephant in the room

Urban Taskforce CEO Tom Forrest reflects on the pre-summit machinations of the ACTU…

On Sunday morning, my awakening was greeted by what appeared to be a welcome announcement by Sally McManus, but alas, it was soon evident that this was a false dawn.

The announcement was a positioning statement from the ACTU for the upcoming 2025 Economic Reform Roundtable taking place in Canberra from 19-22 August. But a closer reading quickly reveals that the ACTU has focussed on everything but workplace productivity.  They have completely avoided taking about the elephant in the room – them!

“The current tax system encourages investment in property” their media release states. Correct – and a good thing too - otherwise our housing supply and affordability crisis would be much worse.

The ACTU is lazily resurrecting the 2019 election-losing policies which infamously included changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax, issues which the Grattan Institute describes as being of marginal consequence (adding between 1-4% to the price of homes) and cost the Bill Shorten led Opposition what was otherwise an election certainty (delivering Labor 3 additional years in Opposition). 

That is the ACTU legacy on tax reform and Anthony Albanese is wise to ignore them.

But it gets worse from the ACTU.  They point-blank refuse to consider the role of the CFMEU pattern Enterprise Bargaining Agreements forced on major building sites by the disgraced CFMEU.  The cost of their extravagance is passed onto new home buyers and renters, or stops construction happening at all.

The union movement once sorted out its own house.  The BLF, led by corrupt union boss Norm Gallagher, was expelled from the ACTU in 1986.  More significantly, with the support of the ACTU of the day, they were deregistered as an industrial organisation with the legislation drafted by then then Prime Minister and former ACTU leader, Bob Hawke himself.

The union’s organisers were also banned from building sites and construction workers were forced to resign from the union or lose their jobs. BLF organisers who later sought to enter worksites were arrested and prosecuted.  The BLF continued to seek to represent its members, refusing to be constrained by the Prices and Wages Accord.

The expulsion of the BLF from the industrial relations system saw its members dispersed between the BWIU and FEDFA (now those unions have combined to become the modern day CFMEU). Legislation was passed in the Federal Parliament along with the states of NSW, Victoria and Queensland to give effect to the prohibition – all with the full support of the ACTU.

The analogies between the experience of the ACTU dealing with the BLF in the 1980s and the ACTU’s tiptoeing around building industry workplace productivity and CFMEU corruption today are many – but the contrasts are clear.

How can the Productivity Summit (2025 Economic Reform Roundtable) be taken seriously if it does not address workplace productivity in the property construction sector?  The ACTU’s Sally McManus is correct to say housing should be the focus for this summit – but her weekend effort was a case of Orwellian obfuscation.

An organisation that once cherished the skills and economic understanding of Bob Hawke, Bill Kelty, Simon Crean, Martin Ferguson, Anna Booth, Ralph Willis, Jenny George, Greg Combet, Tim Pallas, Tim Harcourt, Jan Marsh and Iain Ross has now turned into a cheer-squad for a by-gone era of wonton economic illiteracy.

The ACTU Secretary used to sit on the Board of the Reserve Bank of Australia.  I doubt Sally McManus even knows its current Sydney address.

The EBA system has been exploited by the CFMEU and the first step towards improving productivity in the sector must be their deregistration, lest they continue to make new home construction unfeasible.

The ACTU of today sounds like a lame version of ACOSS.  Far from driving productivity and economic growth, they are destroying it.  It’s time to address the elephant in the room.

4. Construction costs for apartments still rising

According to the ABS data, other residential construction costs for FY 2025 rose 4.2% in NSW, off the back of spikes stretching back to the COVID era. This continues to challenge feasibility for projects everywhere apart from the high-end section of the market. But much of the NSW Government’s focus is on affordable high-density development. But here lies the problem:

While interest rate cuts may provide some relief, there are challenges in apartment construction. Insolvencies, high wages, labour shortages and the underlying regulatory risk is simply adding fuel to the fire.

This must be a focus for the upcoming Economic Reform Roundtable, given the problems being detected in the apartment space in both NSW and Victoria.

5. Coffs Harbour sound wall impasse resolved

Commonsense prevails with the Minns Government agreeing to provide a $5.5 million grant with Transport for NSW to build the sound wall along part of its new $2.2 billion Coffs Harbour bypass project, allowing the studio project to go ahead.

TfNSW finally came to the party with some “encouragement” from the Premier, and Ministers John Graham and Jenny Aitchison.  There are still details to be worked through, but this is a great result for Coffs Harbour.

Peter Montgomery (left) with Keith Rodger and Russell Crowe

After many years, we now have a sensible decision from the Government which is positive news for the proposal bringing jobs and investment to the region.

Director of the Pacific Bay Resort Studios, Peter Montgomery, welcomed the decision:

6. “Entitled” Mosman NIMBY to take on Minns Government’s LMR reforms

The SMH reported this week on one longstanding Mosman resident is prepared to pay up to $500,000 to challenge the State Government’s low to mid rise reforms.

Besides the argument about preserving stratospheric property values and preserving “character”, the individual makes some claims which perhaps distil the NIMBY character.

The AFR speaks to another multi decade resident who, whilst acknowledging his fortune in living in Mosman, politely suggests “there are other good places to live in Sydney”.

Planning Minister Paul Scully perfunctorily dismissed the bleatings of the privileged few, with a not too subtle dig at the average age of those having a whinge:

7. NIMBYs getting restless in the Inner West

It seems this has the local NIMBYs in a tizz, with poorly attended meetings being held and attended by the usual grab bag of Greens and NIMBY chancers.

Losing the Inner West Council election to Labor obviously still rankles with the Greens and their supporters.

Kudos to Mayor Darcy Byrne for staring down the NIMBYs and calling out their entitled view that would turn the inner west into a retirement village:

Fine sentiments.

Let’s hope the other Labor councillors join with the Mayor in standing up to the rent-seeking-like behaviour of the local Greens and their associated NIMBY racketeers.

8. Modular Housing builder Grove drives savings for new home buyers

Part of that lagging confidence is the need for the Government to get behind modular construction, and in the case of NSW remove the obsolete ban on land lease communities which are permissible across the nation barring Greater Sydney – the most unaffordable market in the land. More than 130,000 Australians live in such arrangements – none of them are Sydney-siders.

The potential costs savings to new home buyers through quick, modular construction are significant, as Grove tells the AFR:

In an environment where housing costs keeping going up, and Government’s seemingly can’t help but add thousands of dollars in fees, taxes and charges to the cost of buying a new home, modular construction, along with a model where land is leased not sold, offers huge savings for new home buyers.

Ministers, both Federal and State, were quoting Urban Taskforce’s response to a number of positive initiatives over the last week.

Firstly, Federal Housing Minister, Clare O’Neil, borrowed our attack on the Federal Opposition’s unwise opposition to support for investment in Build-To-Rent in Parliament House Question Time in Canberra:

CEO of Urban Taskforce, Tom Forrest spoke with The Daily Telegraph and iterated our call for the Albanese Government to remove obstacles to foreign investment in new housing:

The same day the NSW Premier, Chris Minns MP, referred to our support for the Pattern Book and its complying development pathway as example of genuine microeconomic reform:

And no sooner had the Premier provided his answer to the House than the Planning Minister Paul Scully again quoted Urban Taskforce on the NSW Budget’s innovative pre-sales finance guarantee:

Urban Taskforce has been a driving force in the shifting of the ground in terms of the housing supply crisis. It is always pleasing to see the pollies acknowledge this! 

10. "Coronation Cares" launches 2025 Community Grants Program

Coronation Property have launched their Community Grants Program for 2025. 

As part of the company's social impact arm, Coronation Cares, one-off grants totalling $30,000 will be made available to support innovative social impact projects, programs, or initiatives.  

Applications are sought from not-for-profit community groups or organisations that hold an Australian Business Number (ABN), or non-incorporated community groups and clubs overseen by an eligible organisation nominated as the legal entity on the application form, for projects based in areas where Coronation operates, specifically within the LGAs of its projects across Sydney, including Parramatta, St Peters, Liverpool, Erskineville, Chatswood, Merrylands, and Ashbury.  

The proposed service or benefit to residents within the specified areas must be detailed, along with the intended outcomes from the grant funding, and the projects must align with one or more of Coronation’s value pillars: 

• Homes for Everyone:  housing solutions with a focus on crisis and transitional housing, affordable housing, and pathways to home ownership for low-income people;
• Realising Potential:  initiatives that empower individuals and communities to harness their strengths and achieve their goals; and
• Inclusive Representation:  equal opportunity for a stronger and more diverse property industry, focusing on women and youth. 

Applications will be assessed based on their potential to deliver tangible and measurable benefits to the community, visibility, and value within the community, capacity to strengthen community development, demonstration of strong governance, fostering of sustainable partnerships, and the capability to deliver the proposed project. 

Applications close at 5:00 PM on Friday, 5 September 2025, and successful recipients will be announced on Friday, 10 October 2025. 

11. Federal Government to lift international student numbers

A lift in student housing is required, and the Federal Government cannot afford to take its eye of this critical component of the international education sector.

If they could just do the same for the very much needed construction sector by opening up the immigration doors for skilled and unskilled construction workers – we would be a long way ahead in terms of housing supply feasibility.

12. News from DPHI

A new criterion has been added to Objective 4, ‘Proposal has strategic merit’. This criterion requires applicants to demonstrate the strategic merit of their proposals and clarifies which existing land use zones are ineligible for the HDA pathway.

The clarified criteria will make it easier for applicants to identify if their projects are suitable for the HDA pathway. The changes also enable the Department to provide earlier feedback on EOI submissions to applicants who have not met key HDA criteria and are therefore ineligible for the HDA SSD pathway. The clarified criteria have been summarised to detail the changes.

The HDA submissions form will be updated to reflect the criteria changes in the coming weeks, and additional frequently asked questions will also be made available.

b. Refined guidance to Social Impact Assessment  

The Department has refined the Social Impact Assessment Guideline and supporting resources to provide clearer messaging and more practical guidance. The refined guideline aims to support more effective Social Impact Assessments, contributing to better social outcomes for State significant projects. 

c. New state rezonings to speed up housing delivery in NSW 

The Department is fast-tracking the rezoning of land to enable the delivery of an estimated 7,800 new homes in 5 high-demand areas across Sydney and regional NSW. 

The Department will undertake assessments for rezonings at Beverly Hills Town Centre (West), a site adjacent to Sydney Markets, Shoalhaven Street Precinct (Kiama Depot), the former Wallerawang Power Station, and Eden Estates in Wallsend. 

These projects were selected to accelerate the delivery of more well–located homes through the planning system. The Department will now coordinate engagement with state agencies, local communities and stakeholders as part of the assessment process. 

These new sites build on the NSW Government’s earlier announcements of state-led and state-assessed rezoning projects. To date, 24 projects have been progressed as state rezonings, with the potential to enable the delivery of an estimated 43,000 homes and 71,000 jobs. 

13. Elizabeth Drive upgrade partially opens to traffic

A key milestone was passed this week with an upgraded section of Elizabeth Drive opening to traffic.

Urban Taskforce has been pushing both the Federal and State Governments to get a move on to upgrade these critical roads in time for the opening of the new Western Sydney airport next year.

14. Productivity Commission releases two more reform discussion papers

The Productivity Commission is certainly being productive – releasing two more papers in its “Five pillars of productivity” inquiries. 

The inquiries were intended to identify priorities under each of the five pillars of the Government’s productivity growth agenda and to develop recommendations that can help drive productivity-enhancing reforms.

Five interim reports are being released ahead of the Economic Reform Roundtable, which the Government appears to be quickly moulding into a staged talkfest, but will nevertheless be held from 19-21 August at Parliament House in Canberra.

The five pillars are: 

• Creating a more dynamic and resilient economy (released)
• Investing in cheaper, cleaner energy and the net zero transformation (released)
• Harnessing data and digital technology (released)
• Building a skilled and adaptable workforce (to be released on 11 August)
• Delivering quality care more efficiently (to be released on 13 August)

The first three papers have already recommended several initiatives, including: 

• corporate tax reform – a company tax rate of 20% and a net cashflow tax of 5%
• reforms to promote business dynamism – a clear agenda for regulatory reform, greater scrutiny of regulations, and expectations for public servants to be accountable for delivering growth, competition, and innovation
• reducing the cost of meeting emissions targets – strategies for reducing emissions in electricity after 2030, a Safeguard Mechanism covering industrial facilities, emissions-reduction incentives for heavy vehicles, and frameworks to achieve least-cost emissions targets and to improve transparency
• faster approvals for new energy infrastructure – reforms to national environment laws to facilitate energy production, a strike team to assess renewable energy projects, the appointment of a Coordinator-General for renewable energy projects, and amendments to biodiversity laws to facilitate energy transition
• addressing barriers to adaptation investment – a risk database covering all climate hazards, a climate resilience rating system for housing, actions to improve housing resilience over time, and power to the Climate Change Authority to monitor and evaluate adaptation policy
• artificial intelligence – assessing regulatory gaps and ensuring that any AI-specific regulations are last resort, proportionate, risk-based, outcomes-based, and technology neutral, with mandatory guardrails for high-risk AI
• data access – creating lower-cost and more flexible regulatory pathways to increase data access
• privacy – alternative pathways for compliance with privacy obligations, but no right to erasure
• digital financial reporting – making digital reporting mandatory and removing the requirement for hard copy or PDF formats

While the identified tax policies and proposals to reduce regulation are welcome moves, some of the proposed climate change initiatives – including the resilience rating system – will almost certainly create more red tape for the housing sector. 

Urban Taskforce has submitted a comprehensive paper to the Roundtable and calls for all involved to get serious about housing supply.  You solve housing through solving productivity and its barriers.

A badly designed tax system, inflexible labour markets, and too much regulation – even if it’s well-intentioned – puts at risk government and industry efforts to deliver the housing supply needed to make housing affordable and accessible to all Australians. 

The only problem here is the risk of so many half-baked issues being discussed, while the big tax reforms and workplace productivity reforms are ignored.

15. Spotlight on excellence – best social-affordable development

Delivered under the NSW Government’s Social and Affordable Housing Fund, the building comprises 61 apartments (48 social and 13 affordable) and two commercial tenancies.

The building’s design by Nordon Jago Architects offers residents spacious, bright, open-plan living, wide-set balconies, underground car parking, and a communal rooftop area overlooking Sydney’s vibrant inner west.

The building boasts a high energy efficiency rating of 7.2 NatHERS stars.

This project demonstrates the transformative impact of public-private partnerships in addressing Australia’s pressing housing challenges.

16. Council Watch

Are our old friends at Ku-ring-gai Council still up to no good?

Recently Ku-ring-gai came up with their own version of the TOD Tier 2 reform program for the four affected train stations – Gordon, Killara, Roseville and Lindfield.

Of concern are proposed amendments to their Development Control Plan – Part 14 Local Character, Urban Precincts and Sites.

An entire new Local Character Statement is proposed to be added as Part 14A.1, affecting the ridge and centres character area stretching from Roseville to Wahroonga.

Then they have proposed to add this paragraph as part of the “general character statement” for this area:

Local character statements are optional and are generally used by NIMBY councils to thwart housing.

These clauses often rely on vague or subjective language (see above) which can be interpreted in ways that hinder change, even when proposals meet zoning and building requirements. Activist NIMBY groups jump on these clauses and frequently invoke them to oppose development, and of course councils may use these arguments to delay or refuse applications, contributing to housing undersupply.

This resistance can conflict with state planning objectives, such as those under the Housing SEPP or Transport Oriented Development program, which promote increased density in well-located areas.

Trojan horse? We believe so.

17. Members in the news

“… Investa is moving ahead with plans to develop a co-living project in the Sydney CBD with The Salvation Army… read more                                

                                            To read more, click here                           The Urban Developer, 1 August

“… Toga has begun the state review process for a 674-home project in Sydney’s inner west, nine months after the council blocked a larger scheme across this and neighbouring sites… read more

                                            To read more, click here                           The Urban Developer, 4 August

“… Billbergia is steaming ahead with its domination of Sydney’s Inner West, releasing concept plans for a nine-building mixed-use precinct at Rhodes… read more

                                            To read more, click here                           The Urban Developer, 5 August

Quintessential has offloaded the high-performing Port Adelaide Distribution Centre to Centuria Capital Group in a deal worth more than $216 million, the biggest industrial deal in South Australia’s history… read more …

                                              To read more, click here                         The Urban Developer, 5 August

“… Deicorp continues converting approvals into construction at speed, breaking ground on a $640-million residential tower on Sydney’s Lower North Shore… read more

                     To read more, click here                         The Urban Developer, 6 August

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