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Sticking to its $2.8 billion budget commitment to housing, the Perrottet government has announced a new round of funding to fast-track delivery of the state’s housing.
The Premier labelled the $11.5 million Unblocking Homes Program as a “timely support [that] will provide more opportunity and certainty for first home buyers, under-resourced councils and for the construction industry”.
As part of the “targeted help for councils to drive more local housing delivery”, Mr Perrottet stated the program would assist tens of thousands of homes currently stuck in the system, delivering much-needed stock to the state’s depleted housing market.
Falling under the umbrella of the latest round of relief is a new Regional Housing Flying Squad, which Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional NSW Paul Toole explained would circumvent the lack of qualified planners in certain regional pockets and assist these councils in swiftly clearing development applications.
“We know there’s a shortage of qualified planners in some parts of the state. This is about overcoming that with a flying squad of experts who can help councils review development applications faster and move projects into construction,” he said.
Mr Toole outlined that successful trials of the program, which occurred earlier in the year, had seen the government “expand it to ensure we are making an impact in the communities that need it most”.
The regional flying squad is on track to assess more than 2,400 homes and save hundreds of hours of council planners’ time, according to Minister for Planning and Minister for Homes Anthony Roberts.
He said that a myriad of events, including “skills shortages, bushfires, COVID-19, and floods”, have contributed to local planning backlogs resulting in “an increase in average assessment times for local DAs from 69 to 85 days between July 2021 and July 2022”.
“We’re here to help with support for complex applications and assessments, freeing up council time and speeding up approvals to get more shovels in the ground sooner,” he said.
Building on the need for the program, Wendy Tuckerman, Minister for Local Government, said that as of 15 September 2022, there were 107 housing rezoning proposals under assessment with potential for 87,583 rezoning lots.
She added that “there were also nearly 10,000 residential development applications under assessment with the potential to deliver some 82,942 homes”.
“The Unblocking Homes program will see the NSW government partner with councils to resolve issues in complex assessments.
“This will help tackle the backlog and fast-track approvals to deliver more housing more quickly for our growing and diverse population — including social and affordable housing for people in need, Aboriginal communities and seniors,” Ms Tuckerman concluded.
The seven new and ongoing initiatives included in the $11.5 million Unblocking Homes Program are:
- Regional Housing Flying Squad (expansion following successful pilot)
- Planning proposal support and expert assessment for prioritised housing projects
- Planning Delivery Unit regional case management and planning concierge
- Regionally significant DA capacity building and faster assessments
- Local Housing Strategy implementation
- Regional Housing Strategic Planning Fund
- Faster Local Assessment Grant
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