8 Sydney suburbs set for high-density rezoning

The Transport Oriented Development Program, which is the official name of the government’s plan, is an effort to boost accommodation surrounding train and metro stations, with eight suburbs identified as development precincts. The government said it expects this effort will support the construction of 45,000 new and affordable homes.

“The NSW government will master plan and rezone the precincts by November 2024 to deliver up to 45,000 new and affordable homes, within walking distance (1,200 metres) of these key stations,” the document stated.

The targeted suburbs are reported as Bankstown, The Bays, Bella Vista, Crows Nest, Homebush, Hornsby, Kellyville and Macquarie Park.

In addition, 31 further suburbs in the state, including within Sydney, are earmarked for rezoning efforts within 400 metres around popular transit hubs.

They include Rockdale, Kogarah, Banksia, Marrickville, Turrella, Dulwich Hill, Canterbury, Ashfield, Croydon, Wiley Park, Berala, Lidcombe, St Marys, Roseville, Lindfield, Killara and Gordon.

Outside of Sydney, the locations set for a density surge include Gosford, Corrimal, Dapto, North Wollongong, Tuggerah, Wyong, Morisset, Booragul, Teralba, Kotara, Adamstown, Hamilton and the Newcastle Interchange.

Under the National Housing Accord, NSW has committed to deliver 377,000 new homes in five years starting 1 July 2024, which equates to 76,000 homes per year. Recent completions in the state put its new dwelling output around 40,000 annually, and the state has repeatedly said that it will look to enable more high-density building to make good on its housing promises.

The document is due to be released this week, and is expected to be formally released soon. It also seemed to confirm that the Sydney Metro West project will go ahead, prior to the release of a viability report commissioned by the government.

While the release of the information was a blunder, Urban Taskforce CEO Tom Forrest said that information contained within should be welcomed in the state and was applauded by his organisation, representing property developers and equity financiers.

“If confirmed, this represents a big down payment on the Premier’s repeated commitments to deliver more housing close to public transport.

“All up, this is an excellent start in terms of transit-oriented development and hopefully a sign of more to come. The confirmation that the Metro West is also proceeding is also very good news. It is hoped that there will be more stations and additional precincts added to the leaked list associated with the metro announcement in due course,” Mr Forrest said.

In Mr Forrest’s estimation, there are some notable exclusions to the proposed development zones, and he suggested that the government could go further in its plans to increase housing in the vicinity of train stations.

“The Urban Taskforce is bemused that the precincts around Bondi Junction, Edgecliff station in the city’s east, and Chatswood on Sydney’s north shore were not on the leaked list. We urge the government to think big and take every opportunity to drive housing supply – particularly in areas like these where there is such strong demand for housing and abundant transport infrastructure capacity,” Mr Forrest added.