3 October 2025

In this Edition...

1. Inner West Council’s “Fairer Future Plan” gets up – but will it work?

2. ABS approvals - a cold shower for NSW

3. Urban Taskforce members get early-face to-face briefing from DPHI on planning reforms

...and much, much more.

4. Government housing taxes killing feasibility in Sydney’s west
5. Council watch
6. NSW Opposition leader goes full YIMBY
7. Housing for Chatswood Metro construction site
8. Density done well at Burwood rewarded by Time Out magazine – the coolest suburb in Australia
9. In the midst of a supply crisis, the home of the public servant (the ACT) adds more red tape
10. Greens generational divide on housing
11. Expressions of Interests for the NSW Investment Delivery Authority now open
12. Biodiversity Offsets Scheme Update
13. Spotlight on excellence – Best Adaptive reuse
14. Members in the news

1. Inner West Council’s “Fairer Future Plan” gets up – but will it work?

A packed gallery at inner West Council this week (source: Sydney YIMBY)

There are genuine concerns that the aspirations of Darcy Byrne and the narrow majority of the Inner West Council will not be realised through the “Fairer Future Plan” because of the cold hard reality of economics. 

The feasibility question is tough.  The public will ask: how could you possibly not make money when the height and density on a plot of land has been substantially increased? 

The answer is complicated, but important. 

The current high cost of construction is such that uplift alone is not sufficient to pay for the cost of constructing the new building, plus the affordable housing levy, plus the local/community infrastructure contributions, plus the HPC. 

Their enthusiasm to “buy off” every interest group with some funding for their pet interest is no doubt important when dealing with a Council where the politics of housing supply are so tight, but when this is all paid for by the developer it has the inevitable consequence of pushing up the price of the new home – or worse, stopping it being built at all.

All this largess risks there being very little uptake of the housing supply available when compared to the grand aspirations of the document.  Of course, if the development of sites is not feasible, they do not get developed, but also, there is no funding for the community infrastructure, no contribution to affordable housing, and no uptick in housing supply. 

For some NIMBY groups, this is a deliberate strategy.  Recognising they have lost the support of the public and media for rank NIMBYism, they have shifted to simply putting pressure on Councils to include so many “nice-to-have” extras with the uplift, that it will never be realised. 

Affordable Housing represents a case in point. 

The Inner West Council’s Fairer Future Plan has matched increases in height and density with a 2% in perpetuity contribution to affordable housing.  The Plan will see this rise to 5% over the next 5 years for those affected sites. 

The plan conveniently proposes kicking the can down the road on the details associated with the management and delivery of Affordable Housing. 

This comes as the Council’s own economic feasibility consultants (Atlas Economics) call into question some of the zeal for affordable housing solutions. 

They said that – for a 1,200sqm development site at a density or Floor Space Ratio (FSR) of 3.5:1 – a 5% affordable housing contribution would mean the development would no longer be feasible, as the price for the land will decline to less than the cost of the land. 

So, while it identified some sites that might be feasible at 5%, for the vast majority a 2% rate was seen to balance feasibility with affordable housing.  

The proposal to increase the rate to 5% over the next five years ignores the likely escalation in house prices (given the ongoing shortages in construction skilled trades and general staff along with the growth in fees, taxes and charges applied to new home production).

Any tax on the production of new homes is a blow to feasibility. When affordable housing is mandated for a fixed period of time, ownership is retained by the developer, so the value is preserved – just not the full value.  But when affordable housing is provided in-perpetuity, feasibility is seriously undermined.  At 2% it will be tough to make projects stack up in the inner west.  At 5%, it will be almost impossible – even in 5 years’ time.

As Atlas cautioned in their report, development feasibility is not a given, and: 

“A high % contribution requirement is moot if development does not occur.” 

Higher uplift does not necessarily mean that development can contribute at higher rates.  Planning for affordable housing needs to consider what the industry can do, rather than what the vested interests want it to do. 

The Plan proposes the following: 

“A separate piece of work will be undertaken to update the Inner West Affordable Housing Policy to reflect policy changes since its adoption in 2022. This will include revised implementation pathways to maximise the creation of affordable housing, including highlighting the role that CHPs can play in the management and delivery of affordable housing. 

“A revised Affordable Housing Policy will investigate the following changes:

• The impact ownership (Council or Not for Profit CHP and Tier) has on the feasibility and flow on effect of creating greater opportunity for affordable housing in the LGA.
• Provision of in-kind or cash contributions by developers
• The effectiveness of developing new affordable housing or buying existing buildings
• Defining key/essential worker housing
• Setting rent – based on a percentage of income or a discount on market rent
• Including a schedule specifying a dollar value for contribution rates”

With feasibility as tight as it is, construction costs as high as they are, and many predicting we are getting close to the bottom of the current interest rate reduction cycle, the proposed level of community infrastructure and affordable housing contributions represent a massive risk for Darcy Byrne, Paul Scully and Chris Minns’ aspirations for housing supply. 

The Fairer Future for Inner West Plan talks the talk in terms of the need for more housing – the real question is whether the plan will stack up from a development feasibility perspective.

This is certainly one to watch.

2. ABS approvals - a cold shower for NSW

With all the talk about planning reform, cutting red tape, and improving the feasibility development, this week’s ABS data on housing approvals was a bit of a cold shower.

NSW new dwelling approvals data for August 2025 shows a seasonally adjusted 11.4% drop compared with July, which is concerning given the extra effort being applied through a range of planning policy reforms.

Resistance to infill development by many councils and an ongoing drop-off in greenfield approvals threaten to make the Premier’s fears of a Sydney without grandchildren a reality. The fact is, a large proportion of young families prefer a separated new home with a back yard and room for the cars and the kids to play.  They’ll be heading for Brisbane, Melbourne or Adelaide.

The Daily Telegraph spoke to Urban Taskforce CEO Tom Forrest on the messages behind the ABS data:

Worryingly, Queensland (with almost 3 million fewer people than NSW) approved more apartments and stand-alone dwellings than NSW in August – a situation once thought impossible but now occurring with alarming frequency.

One only has to see the difference in the respective planning systems to see why this is occurring! Getting the Planning Reform Bill currently before the NSW Parliament passed and into law cannot happen soon enough.

The ABS data lends further support to passing the planning reform bill currently before NSW Parliament, if not improving aspects to provide greater certainty for the development community.

The national picture also shows housing supply stalling.

Federal Treasurer Dr Jim Chalmers has just announced a substantial reduction in the Federal budget deficit. Now is the time for Canberra to get behind housing enabling infrastructure to help drive a housing supply turnaround. It would help with his government’s productivity agenda too!

Despite the falling away of approvals, there is hope that approvals come flooding through over the next 12 months, partially as a result of the NSW Government reform agenda.

Given the time lag between approvals and completions, these approvals need to start coming through over the next 6 months or so.

3.  Urban Taskforce members get early face to face briefing from DPHI on planning reforms

It was a full house this week as Urban Taskforce members were hosted by Allens for a briefing on the Planning reform Bill currently before NSW Parliament.

DPHI’s Clay Preshaw, a key author of the Bill, along with Janine Lonergan, head of the Housing Taskforce (which will be transformed into the Development Co-ordination Authority if the Bill is passed into law), came along to discuss the Bill, its rationale, and implications for the sector.

As the first peak body to secure an industry briefing from the NSW Government on planning reforms that were introduced into the Parliament two weeks ago, it was a welcome engagement at a time when questions are being asked about what the changes will mean at the coal face. 

They provided some initial responses to issues that Urban Taskforce had raised in a letter to Minister for Planning, Paul Scully MP, and answered many detailed questions from our members. 

Urban Taskforce is engaging directly with the Government to propose amendments that may help the legislation achieve its objectives more successfully. 

We will be making further submissions, based on feedback received from members, to provide details to the Department on where proposals could be improved and on some of the issues that may not have been fully considered in the drafting. 

Urban Taskforce is pleased that the Department agreed to engage with our members first, and we thank Clay and Janine for presenting and our members for their participation. 

Our thanks to Rebecca Ritchie and Allens for hosting the morning tea at such short notice.

4. Government housing taxes killing feasibility in Sydney’s west

The AFR spoke with Urban Taskforce member ALAND on the impact that a raft of Government fees taxes and charges is having on projects, particularly in Sydney’s west. ALAND founder Andrew Hrsto told the AFR that costs were crippling feasibilty in projects in the western suburbs:

Leppington proposal

And this is not taking into account additional taxes like land tax, payroll tax, GST and company tax.

A stubborn NSW Treasury that the cost of development should be borne by new home buyers, regardless of the broader community and economic benefit that new housing brings is being rigidly applied. Treasury’s “user pays” line is throttling Sydney, the NSW economy and housing supply.

This is a handbrake on housing commencements and completions – the metric by which the States will be judged when it comes to the National Housing Accord.

You can’t live in an approval. Yet these fees, taxes, levies and charges are now the big factor preventing the conversion of housing approvals (which themselves remain low) into completed dwellings.

It’s time that the Minns Government woke up to the fact that their housing taxation regime effectively means that anything west of Burwood is under the feasibility pump.

We have a State Government mantra of “build, build, build”, undermined by its own Treasury which seems determined to squeeze development hard.

5. Council watch

Northern Beaches Affordable housing taxes killing off feasible development in Frenchs Forest

A few weeks back Urban Taskforce noted the perverse outcomes of affordable housing levies in cruelling marginal development propositions, leading to less market and affordable housing. 

Case in point – Frenchs Forest in Northern Beaches Council.

This is a council that is opposed to its fair share of housing, having recently put in a local development control plan specifically aimed at stymying the State Government’s low to mid rise reforms.

Council has an Affordable Housing Contributions Scheme that is preventing redevelopment of the Frenchs Forest town centre – demanding 10-15% of Gross Floor Area. 

Council has publicly acknowledged that this current scheme ‘seems’ to be preventing development, and they said they were going to look into it, get a feasibility study, and hoped to replace it with a lower contribution rate across a broader base.  This was 15 months ago but Council has not progressed at all.  

Yet when the Minns Government sought to encourage housing through its LMR reforms, Council pulled out all stops to amend its DCP in an effort to thwart the reforms.

The 15% affordable housing contribution rate was struck 4 years ago when interest rates were at an all-time low and building costs a fraction of what they are today. What it led to is stalling of development in the area.  

Last year we drew attention to a media release by Mayor Sue Heins where she pondered why development has stalled in those parts of Northern Beaches which had an affordable housing tax in place, compared to areas ‘charging ahead’ without the tax. We wonder why?

While promising a review, since then it has been crickets!

Just like the State Government, Council needs reduce its taxes on new housing to stimulate supply.

What it should be looking at is the NSW Government’s successful infill affordable housing bonus scheme. To date that scheme has given a green light to more than 1,600 affordable homes.

It works.

Rather than trying to keep up appearance with a broken scheme, Council needs to swallow its pride, admit its affordable housing scheme is flawed, and put in place a system that works.

An excellent article setting out the flaws in the current approach was recently published in the Manly Observer.

This week the Planning Minister expressed surprise that some Councils are seeking to undermine reform – like prohibiting subdivisions for duplexes. The Urban Taskforce Council Watch desk is seeing these tactics discretely deployed across Sydney. It's time for DPHI to show who's in charge.

6. NSW Opposition leader goes full YIMBY

In a positive sign in the lead up to the Parliamentary debate on the planning reforms, Opposition Leader Mark Speakman has gone the full YIMBY, saying that the key lesson for the Liberals politically was to be “unashamedly YIMBY”.

In a set speech this week, Mr Speakman acknowledged the need to get behind housing to try to reconnect with younger generations. But the speech went further than general reflections, raising a number of commitments from the Opposition that, if adopted, would play a positive role in addressing the housing supply crisis:

✅ Suspending the Housing and Productivity Contribution till the end of the National Housing Accord period

✅ Deferring the incidence of the tax from the time of issuing of construction certificate to the occupation certificate

✅ Reintroducing the First Home Buyers Choice scheme to allow this category the choice of paying up front Stamp Duty or an annual land tax.

✅ Expanding this scheme to promote downsizing to free up larger houses for younger families

It demonstrates that the Opposition is listening attentively to the nuts-and-bolts issues that continue to hamper housing supply.

We can only wish there was bipartisanship on all these issues.

7. Housing for Chatswood Metro construction site

The Minns Government has announced Landcom will deliver up to 1,500 new homes at the former construction site associated with the Chatswood metro site on the corner of Mowbray Road and the Pacific Highway.

The draft masterplan includes:

• Construction of 180 build-to-rent apartments that will be held in perpetuity and offered to essential workers like health workers, paramedics, teachers, police officers and firefighters.
• Up to 1,300 additional apartments both for market sale and dedicated to affordable housing, with a mix of apartment sizes catering for different lifestyles.
• New retail and commercial spaces, landscaped outdoor spaces with new pedestrian and cycling connections to the wider area.
• Adaptive re-use of local heritage building Mowbray House, which operated as a boarding school from 1906 to 1954, for future community use.

Landcom is inviting feedback on the proposal from the community and stakeholders until 9am, Monday 27 October 2025.

Unfortunately, the local Liberal Member for Willoughby, Tim James MP, has already come out opposing the plan. If school capacity is an issue – hold the Minister for Education to account but don’t oppose housing supply.

This reflects an ongoing problem for the Opposition.

The Leader of the Opposition appears to be on-board the housing supply crusade, as is the Shadow Planning Minister.

But the struggle will be with local MPs and their almost Pavlovian predilection to oppose housing proposals.

8. Density done well at Burwood rewarded by Time Out magazine – the coolest suburb in Australia

Burwood is fast becoming the poster child for the benefits of urban density, having been declared the 16^th coolest neighbourhoods in the world in Time Out’s annual list of cool spots to hang out.

Time Out surveyed its network of writers and editors across its huge breadth of cities to narrow down the ‘vibiest’ districts in their hometowns. They then ranked every neighbourhood against criteria including culture, community, liveability, nightlife, food and drink, street life and ‘nowness’.

Unsurprisingly, the list was dominated by precinct characterised by density, diversity and young people. An anathema to ageing NIMBYs but an exciting glimpse into a new Sydney being reshaped by an embracing of density and the benefits it brings beyond housing and jobs.

In case you’re wondering, the coolest place in the world, according to Time Out, is Jimbocho in Tokyo.

Meanwhile, those place-making obsessives at the Australian Institute of Architects are scratching their heads in bewilderment over Time Out's omission of Castlecrag from the list!

9. In the midst of a supply crisis, the home of the public servant (the ACT) adds more red tape

It something that should never leave the ACT. The enthusiasm for productivity reform shown a few months back when the Federal Government held an over-hyped reform summit in Canberra is but a distant memory (assuming anyone can remember it).

NSW has a strong regulatory framework for the development industry – the Residential Apartment Building Act 2020 and the Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020. There is also a thorough system of Occupation Certificate audits conducted by the NSW Building Commission. The Commission itself has been recently augmented and backed by Government support. It is far from a toothless tiger.

10. Greens generational divide on housing

After its come-uppance at the last Federal election where its leader and housing spokesperson were dumped out of the Parliament, there are rumours and reports of internal bickering over the “housing question” within the Greens Party.

Ageing NIMBY Greens (the likes of which pack out local council meetings in their inner-city Green-Left enclaves) are now being asked legitimate questions from some of their younger members as to why blocking housing in the areas where these younger people want to live is good politics for them? Fair question!

Unless it’s the bank of mum and dad, young people continue to struggle to rent, let alone buy, in areas where they want to live.

Labor appears to have stepped through its own internal tension over the housing debate. The Damascene conversion of a few Labor Inner West Councillors this week is evidence of change.

The Liberal Party in NSW still has some work to do but at least the State Leader recognises that a pro-housing stance is key to connecting with younger voters (see story 6).

Making it up as you go with demands for more social housing for youth and a national property development agency may appeal to the more extreme elements of the Greens Party, but many are looking at the political alternatives that have to wrestle with the reality of delivering housing and come up with workable solutions, not pie in the sky manifestos that never have to work because they will never be implemented.

Could the Greens go the same way as the once pivotal Democrats? The Greens need to learn some tough lessons. Once you get past student politics, you really have to look elsewhere for what the Prime Minister, in his long-standing battle with the Greens, describes as “Real Solutions”.

A campaign poster for the would-be Member for Grayndler in 1996

11. Expressions of Interests for the NSW Investment Delivery Authority now open

EOIs opened on 1 October  for the first round of projects to be considered by the Investment Delivery Authority (IDA), calling for developments related to data centres and technology, renewable energy, and energy security, along with hotels critical to visitor economy growth.

Projects that are endorsed by the IDA will receive specialist government support for their major investments in NSW, including from a dedicated planning assessments team within the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure, and from a multi-agency Investment Taskforce based in the Premier’s Department.

The EOI process will need to be carefully monitored. Urban Taskforce has successfully argued to include fit outs as part of the $1 billion threshold, as well as reducing the threshold for hotels to $200 million.

The thresholds may need to be revised downwards depending on the reaction of the market.

12. Biodiversity Offsets Scheme Update

From DCCEEW comes the latest Biodiversity Offsets Scheme Update – version 42 (an important update for Douglas Adams fans!)

This four-page page turner is packed with useful information, including: 

• the Help Desk is moving to a Customer Portal and phasing out phone (on 24 October 2025) and email (on 27 February 2026) support;
• applications for Biodiversity Offsets Scheme (BOS) credit transfers or retirements are sought before 28 November 2025 – more information can be found here;
• the Biodiversity Credit Supply Fund’s eighth statewide reverse auction on 17 September received 213 bids for more than 1.2million credits;
• the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust has released results from its Credit Tender from April;
• the Department has created a biodiversity credits catalogue, where sellers can advertise their credits for free;
• there is a new Virtual Front Counter for biodiversity stewardship agreements;
• a revised process for Biodiversity Assessment Method (BAM) biodiversity experts has been released;
• the BOS Help Desk Customer Portal has made the NSW Orchid Flowering Lookup tool available to help with assessments – log in to the Portal and navigate to the tool; and
• people looking to become accredited as an assessor can apply here. 

You can sign up for future editions of the newsletters here and further information about the Biodiversity Offsets Program can be found here.

13. Spotlight on excellence – Best Adaptive reuse

Rosebery Engine Yards is a multi-million-dollar transformation of a neglected heritage listed industrial site in Sydney’s Inner South into a vibrant commercial and retail destination.

Developed by Goodman, with design by GroupGSA and built by Taylor Construction, the project is an exemplar of adaptive reuse.

Anchored by premium retail, showroom space and community amenity, Rosebery Engine Yards achieved a 5 star green star as built rating, and is a great example of the value repurposed buildings play in sustainable development.

Goodman’s goal was to preserve the unique industrial character while integrating modern elements. The result is a harmonious blend of old and new, providing an inspiring environment for retailers, workers and visitors, while contributing to the local community.

Chair of the Judging Panel, Chris Johnson AM, was full of praise for the development:

(L-R) Luke Schuler, Thea Mahony, David Lai, Guy Smith, Kori Todd, Kerrie Muskens, David Wilson, Angus Harrold.

14. Members in the news

*Please note these articles may be paywall protected

“… Payce is moving ahead on the latest stage of the Melrose Park precinct, with rezoning proposals now on exhibition ...read more... 

The Urban Developer, 30 September

"Superannuation heavyweight Aware Super has struck a deal to take a 49 per cent stake in a $2bn partnership in the United States managed by listed industrial property company Goodman Group ...read more...

The Australian, 30 September

"… A planning proposal in North Appin by developers Ingham Property Group could see 3000 additional houses and apartments built on the outskirts of metropolitan Sydney, with the promise of a new town centre and school ...read more ...

The Daily Telegraph, 1 October

"… A McDonald’s outlet in Melbourne’s south-east has sold for $4.714 million on a yield below 3 per cent, setting a record for the return that small-scale investors are willing to accept for a foot in the popular fast-food chain ...read more ...

AFR, 1 October

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