Bill will make NSW a ‘more attractive place to invest’

THE new NSW Building Bill will “streamline approvals, reduce unnecessary costs and support faster delivery of housing,” according to the Urban Development Institute of Australia.

Stuart Ayres, UDIA NSW chief executive, said manufactured homes and land lease communities will play a vital role in tackling the housing crisis.

“This is a significant outcome for the sector and will make NSW a more attractive place to invest capital in these growth-oriented housing types,” Ayres said.

Ayres said the Bill delivers on reforms such as the removal of the outdated Section 68 approval regime under the Local Government Act for the installation of manufactured homes, which has for decades created inconsistent, slow and duplicative approvals across the State’s approximately 530 registered residential parks, housing over 45,000 residents.

UDIA NSW also welcomed reforms to integrate prefabricated and modular homes into the mainstream building approvals system, noting that manufactured homes and land lease communities stand to benefit directly.

The Productivity Commission has estimated modular and prefabricated construction can reduce building costs by up to 20 per cent and cut construction time by up to 50 per cent, benefits that will flow directly to housing affordability.

“While the land lease sector has been booming in Queensland, approval and certification pathways here in NSW have been stuck in the 1980s,” Ayres said.

“This legislation finally brings the sector in line with every other form of residential construction and gives investors and developers the certainty they need to build.”

The Bill introduces a streamlined approvals pathway, including access to Complying Development Certificates (CDCs) for home installations and a revised, modern definition of “prefabricated building”.

With NSW needing to build 377,000 homes by 2029, UDIA NSW is calling on the NSW Government to move urgently on implementation.

Among key priorities from UDIA NSW’s submission to the Building Commission are:

• Releasing supporting regulations and environmental planning instruments for public comment before proclamation;
• Providing explicit confirmation that land lease community home installations can access the new CDC and variation certificate frameworks;
• Undertaking targeted industry consultation before finalising any new CDC code;
• Amending the Housing SEPP to align with the Bill’s revised prefabricated building definition; and
• Removing the remaining approval to operate requirement for manufactured home estates.

“The development industry is ready to move. Now we need the regulatory framework to follow through on the promise of this legislation,” Ayres said.

“Every barrier removed is a home built faster for the tens of thousands of NSW residents who depend on this type of housing.”