17 APRIL 2025

In this Edition...

1. Council watch special -    Yes…yes … yes… wait…errr...NO! DPHI in legal mess over Ku-ring-gai TODs

2. Whoever wins on May 3, boosting housing supply will be the challenge ahead

3. Housing dominates Federal Election

...and much, much more.

4. Compare the pair - Labor vs Coalition on housing
5. YIMBY’s release federal election manifesto 
6. Housing Delivery Authority – Round 5
7. UDIA and Property Council – are welcome aboard the Urban Taskforce policy train!
8. Coronation sod turning for new Chatswood development 
9. Urban Taskforce in the news
10. Members in the news

1.   Council watch special -Yes…yes … yes…wait…errr...NO! DPHI in legal mess over Ku-ring-gai TODs

Last week we had the Planning Minister berating Woollahra for trying to take Ku-ring-gai’s mantel as NIMBY in Chief. Quite right too.

The TOD SEPP was gazetted with considerable fanfare from the Government.

The 37 Tier 2 TODs were a logical focus for increased density around nominated train stations where there was capacity.  With the Metro now fully operational up to the northwest, there are loads of empty seats on the North Shore line.

Our issue is one of timing

Switching off a SEPP control is NOT usually triggered by Council simply lodging a planning proposal for a change to the permissible heights, densities and areas of application. 

Normally, the switching off of the SEPP planning controls only happens once a merit-based assessment is undertaken by DPHI and the proposed changes are determined and "made". 

The extra 8 weeks while DPHI undertakes its assessment would give investors and applicants time to complete the State Significant Development documentation and lodge their submissions. That’s where investors, developers and builders feel that the goal posts have suddenly shifted, the rug has been pulled. Fairness for all those involved is critical here.

The real issue here is that tens of millions of dollars have been invested to deliver housing in exactly the places which the NSW government said they should. They made a new State Environmental Planning Policy to give effect to the new rules.

Now apparently, as a result of DPHI fearing they might lose the court case brought on by Ku-ring-gai Council, DPHI has apparently folded, and those investors have not been protected.

Urban Taskforce has sought an urgent meeting with the Minister for Planning seeking a savings clause that protects those that have invested money to deliver what the government proudly said they wanted – increased density around the 4 TOD stations on the North Shore line.

A letter sent to applicants by DPHI on Wednesday stated:

Who’s in control here?

Once Ku-ring-gai Council lodges their planning proposal (which they boast will be aimed at killing development on anything but their own land), State Significant Development rules will operate in 33 TOD areas across Greater Sydney, but not in the 4 TOD areas in the LGA of Ku-ring-gai.

No one wins here except for a Council hell-bent on thwarting housing supply

As one Urban Taskforce member remarked:

There is a short window to fix this. Amend the transition provisions and make them fair and consistent with years of practice in this space.  Don’t suspend SEPP controls just because a Council has lodged a new proposal. Wait until it has been considered and determined.

2. Whoever wins on May 3, boosting housing supply will be the challenge ahead

The release of housing completion and commencement data by the ABS on Wednesday made for some sober reading – showing nationally that only 168,049 dwellings had commenced construction in the 12 months to December 2024.

This is only 70% of what is needed to meet the National Housing Accord target.

No surprise to us, but clearly a wake-up call for the Government who have become frantic in their policy announcements in this space in recent weeks. The good news is the Opposition have also joined the band-wagon and they too have made some massive commitments. See stories 3 and 4 below for the commitments from each side.

The message to the next Federal Government from this week’s data is that gears needed to be shifted. But it’s hard to get out of first gear!!

CEO Tom Forrest was quoted in news.com.au on the poor data coming out of the ABS

The Commonwealth must support the states with more funding for housing enabling infrastructure and incentives to encourage the States to remove red tape and reduce their own fees, “contributions” and infrastructure charges which are all bumping up housing prices while destroying project feasibility.

NSW continues to see a falling off in apartment completions – down to a paltry 15,829 in the twelve months to December 2024, with stand-alone housing also down on the annualised data. We are going backwards when it comes to infill and greenfield housing!

We are almost 50% down from the 77,000 commencements delivered in the 12 months to December 2016!

To be fair, the HDA is just starting to hit its stride and it, along with other State led planning pathways, will have to do a lion’s share of the work if NSW is to get anywhere near its National Housing Accord targets. But the 2016 data shows that it can be done under strong leadership and the right housing policy settings.

The NSW Opposition Leader Mark Speakman is on the money when he links the mountain of taxes NSW places on housing and the impact that it has on new home buyers and housing supply:

3. Housing dominates Federal Election

Getting their skates on

 It was Super Saturday last weekend with both the Albanese Government and the Dutton Opposition making considerable commitments to housing.

Demand side support helps address issues around feasibility of housing supply (as highlighted in our latest Urban Ideas research paper) which will then help address supply constraints. And the message on supply has clearly filtered through to the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition.

Both party’s policies are a good response in the midst of a housing supply crisis, particularly in the short term, but they need to be supported by infrastructure and big picture tax reform to ensure Australia never slips back into a supply and productivity crisis down the track.

Albanese Government to spend $10 billion on housing supply for first home buyers

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced Labor’s plan boost housing supply, promising to invest $10 billion in constructing up to 100,000 homes exclusively for first-home buyers, partnering with “state developers and industry”, to build up to 100,000 homes – with these homes reserved for sale only to first home buyers. These homes will be developed in collaboration with state governments and private industry under Labor’s broader $43 billion Homes for Australia Plan.

The Albanese Government does have a tendency to sound like a throw-back to Tom Uren and the halcyon days of massive government investment in social housing estates, which all turned into slums and represent the very worst housing and societal solutions ever implemented in Australia. But at least they now acknowledge a role for “industry”.

The $10 billion investment will be made up of $2 billion in grants and $8 billion in zero-interest loans or equity investments primarily to States and Territories. States and Territories will be required to match the $2 billion Federal Government grant contribution. 

They’ve also announced a program to enable pretty much all first-home buyers enter the market with just a 5% deposit—without income or placement caps. The government will guarantee part of the loan, allowing buyers to avoid lenders mortgage insurance (LMI). The change reflects the financial reality for modern buyers, especially in high-demand cities like Sydney.

Coalition – new homeowners to be able to deduct mortgage interest payments and clear environmental approval backlogs

On the same day Peter Dutton announced that if elected the Coalition would introduce a First Home Buyer Mortgage Deductibility Scheme, enabling new homeowners to deduct mortgage interest payments from their taxable income for the first five years.

On the supply side, the Coalition yesterday committed to clearing environmental approvals that were holding back housing in greenfield location. A Coalition Government would start to finalise existing residential development environmental approval applications. They set a target of clearing backlogs within 12 months and any project already stuck in the approvals process for more than a year would be finalised within six months.

This builds on existing commitments for a $5 billion housing enabling infrastructure fund and to freeze any further changes to the national construction code for a decade.

These are all positive supply side changes.

The demand side stimulus needs to be matched on the supply side - reduce the costs of bureaucracy, red tape, local and state infrastructure charges or affordable housing taxes - which are all applied to property by the states and local government and impact feasibility.

CEO Tom Forrest made this point in the Urban Developer:

The need to look beyond demand stimulus was a key point in the Australian Brokers’ coverage of the election commitments around housing: 

This timely report resulted in $10 billion of commitments from both sides of politics! 
It clearly enunciated the following as essential to making homes more affordable:
•    Reduction in property taxes and development charges
•    Cutting infrastructure fees that flow onto new home prices
•    Cutting planning over-regulation
•    Making housing supply a legislated objective of the planning laws
•    Stripping back design review processes.

4. Compare the pair - Labor vs Coalition on housing

• Introduce a National Townhouse Accord - Auckland-style upzoning—for all of Australia
• Fix the National Housing Accord incentives by paying the states to fix planning bottlenecks and build homes faster
• Create a federal Targeted Infrastructure Feasibility Fund - A bang-for-buck fund to unlock homes in high-productivity areas
• Introduce a national occupational licensing regime -Empower tradespeople to build where they are needed most
• Boost Commonwealth Rent Assistance - Bring payments up to a baseline—and ensure they stay there
• Create better incentives for public, community, and youth housing - Provide more homes for those who need them most
   

Anthony Albanese, Peter Dutton and their Housing Ministers/Shadows would do well in reading this short punchy treatise, and more importantly adopting its 6 recommendations (the first three most importantly).

6. Housing Delivery Authority – Round 5

The HDA considered a further 30 applications this fortnight, recommending to the Minister that 12 of the EoI’s be declared State Significant under the HDA planning pathway.

• 1 EOI application already had state significance via an alternative SSD pathway. The existing pathway was considered appropriate,
• 14 EOI applications were not recommended to be called in as SSD.
•  3 EOI applications were deferred for further information and future consideration.

To date, 78 proposals amounting to more than 32,100 potential homes have been declared state significant through HDA Expressions of Interest process.

Urban Taskforce pushed hard to get the Government to embrace this market-led approach to building housing where people want to live. The results thus far are positive.

7. UDIA and Property Council – are welcome aboard the Urban Taskforce policy train!

We noted with interest the UDIA and Property Council have gotten behind our campaign to recalibrate the Commonwealth’s New Home Bonus into an upfront incentive for more homes, rather than the current set up of money only being paid if a State exceeds their original National Housing Accord target.

Word is that only the Victorians and ACT want to stick with the current scheme – as they are the only jurisdictions likely to get near past the initial targets!

Urban Taskforce first called for the ‘fix’ back in September 2023.

Urban Taskforce was again ahead of the curve (and in the trenches!) when it comes to arguing for the property development industry and for sensible policy.

8. Coronation sod turning for new Chatswood development 

Coronation Property Group has officially broken ground to mark the start of construction at its new $250 million mixed-use residential and commercial development at Chatswood.

This week’s ‘sod turn’ event was led by Coronation’s Head of Urban Transformations, Aras Labutis, and attended by Coronation’s Executive and Development Teams; Project Partners and consultants, Urban Taskforce CEO Tom Forrest and the Member for Willoughby and Shadow Minister for Small Business and Shadow Minister for Fair Trading, Work Health and Safety and Building, Tim James MP.

Tom Forrest with Coronation’s Aras Labutis, Andrew Hall, Charlotte Dillon and Tim James MP

Located at 57-61 Archer Street, close to the Chatswood Chase and Westfield Shopping Centres, the 32-storey development is one of 78 proposals that are now being progressed as a State Significant Development (SSD) through the NSW Housing Delivery Authority (HDA).

The development will deliver over 150 quality apartments, including one, two, three and four-bedrooms.

Designed by global architecture firm Woods Bagot, the project will also feature 2,500 sqm of retail and commercial space on the ground level, with a restored heritage building re-purposed for fine dining, wellness facilities and a communal landscaped open space for residents.

This is Coronation’s first foray into the northern suburbs and promises to be a transformational improvement to the area.

9. Urban Taskforce in the news

Bad councils getting worse – Government News

Government News – the online publication read by many in local, State and Federal bureaucracies, ran a comprehensive story based on our research of the best and worst performing Sydney councils when it came to approvals.

2SM laments the usual suspects…

10. Members in the news

*Please note these articles may be paywall protected

“…Listed property companies are stepping up and backing solutions to the housing crisis, with residential giant Stockland signing a multibillion-dollar deal to transform Sydney’s Waterloo estates ...read more... 

To read more, click here:                  The Australian, 10 March

"…As co-founder of Billbergia, he’s led landmark projects at Rhodes, Wentworth Point and Lidcombe—driving a vision that blends infrastructure, design and long-term placemaking …read more...

To read more, click here:                       The Urban Developer, 11 April

"…Sekisui House has filed amendments for its Parramatta site at 82-84 Wharf Road, Melrose Park, and 29 Hughes Avenue, Ermington.​​​​..read more...

To read more, click here:                The Urban Developer, 15 April

"…Goodman Group has poached Microsoft’s data centre general manager as the industrial landlord doubles down on its plans to become a global digital infrastructure powerhouse...read more...

To read more, click here:                The Australian, 15 April

"…The $95,599,635 development proposal includes a slender tower, designed by Sydney architecture firm Turner, which will rise prominently at the corner of Wharf St and River Terrace ...read more...

To read more, click here:                The Daily Telegraph, 17 April

"…Property developer Traders In Purple has bought two premium residential development sites on Sydney’s north shore where it plans to roll out projects worth $560m...read more...

To read more, click here:                The Australian, 17 April

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