The Minns Labor Government will help secure Sydney's long-term housing future by requiring councils to keep enough land planned and zoned for at least 30 years of new feasible housing, building a steady pipeline of homes for generations to come.
The new requirement, which will form part of the Sydney Plan, will require councils to update their local strategic planning frameworks to include an ongoing requirement to continually identify and maintain at least 30 years' worth of feasible housing capacity in their local government areas.
Building on the planning reforms delivered over the past three years, this change makes long-term housing planning an ongoing responsibility, ensuring councils continue planning well ahead for the homes future generations will need.
In its latest report, the Productivity and Equality Commission found that it is still too hard to build a home in NSW, and with "high prices delaying home ownership for young people, the intergenerational divide continues to widen."
The report found the best way to improve housing feasibility and increase construction is to continue to create zoning capacity so that new homes can be built, supported by targets for local government areas.
The report identified that the Minns Labor Government's planning reforms have already doubled feasible housing capacity in Sydney. This new requirement will build on that progress by requiring councils to plan and zone for 30 years of feasible housing supply, effectively doubling that capacity again over time.
This reform responds to a recommendation from the new report and takes the next step by making long-term planning an ongoing obligation, requiring councils to continually identify and maintain 30 years of feasible housing capacity so future generations have a home in Sydney.
Over the next two years, the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure will work closely with councils to prepare updated strategic plans that meet the new requirements and support the delivery of more homes where they are needed most and with supporting infrastructure.
Where councils do not meet these requirements, the NSW Government will step in to ensure housing capacity is delivered through state-led rezonings or other planning reforms.
This reform will make long-term planning an ongoing obligation, so Sydney is better prepared to meet future housing demand.
The requirement will also be included in other region plans where five-year local government housing targets are being set.
This is part of the Minns Labor Government's plan to build a better NSW, with more homes to rent and buy close to transport, services and public spaces.
Premier of New South Wales Chris Minns said:
"Housing is the number one cost-of-living challenge facing people in New South Wales, and we need to keep building on the progress we've made.
"We've spent the last three years changing the conversation on housing. Now is not the time to lose our nerve and go back to the planning failures that left a generation priced out of home ownership.
"Today we're taking the next step by making long-term housing planning an ongoing responsibility, not a one-off exercise."
Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully said:
"Planning for housing shouldn't stop at the next election cycle. It should look decades ahead.
"The reforms the Minns Labor Government has implemented over the past three years have taken a longer term view of addressing a problem that was decades in the making and we will require this long-term approach to continue so we don't repeat the mistakes of the past.
"We have spent the past three years speeding up approvals and unlocking capacity for more homes. These reforms are delivering with NSW having the most homes under construction in the country and a growing pipeline of housing proposals progressing through the planning system."
