Boosting housing supply and improving affordability
The planning system is an important lever in addressing the housing crisis and meeting Housing Accord targets. NSW has an ambitious target to deliver 377,000 new homes over five years by July 2029 under the National Housing Accord.
The NSW Government is committed to providing the homes that young people, families and workers need through reforms that are designed to streamline planning approvals for major housing developments.
To accelerate the delivery of much needed homes and help meet our target under the Accord, the NSW Government established the Housing Delivery Authority (HDA).
To make this happen as quickly as possible, the newly established Housing Delivery Authority (HDA) will lead a new streamlined State Significant Development (SSD) pathway and SSD with a concurrent rezoning process.
Submit an expression of interest to the HDA addressing criteria for major residential developments.
Details of the HDA’s recommendations and advice to the Minister for Planning and Public Spaces.
To see what projects have been declared SSD, visit the NSW Planning Portal for published Ministerial Orders relating to the State Significant Development Declaration Order 2025.
Housing Delivery Authority establishment
Established under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act (1979), HDA members include Simon Draper, Secretary of the Premier’s Department; Kiersten Fishburn, Secretary of the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure; and Tom Gellibrand, Chief Executive of Infrastructure NSW.
The Ministerial Order that created the HDA sets out its governance arrangements. How it conducts its business is set out in the:
- HDA Terms of Reference (PDF, 93 KB)
- HDA Operating Procedures (PDF, 230 KB)
- HDA Code of Conduct (PDF, 198 KB)
To further accelerate housing delivery, the NSW Government has established a new Housing Taskforce, a multi-agency group within the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure that is charged with maximising housing completions to 2029.
How the Housing Delivery Authority works
- The HDA offers a clear planning pathway for large residential and mixed-use developments to be assessed as state significant development and state significant development with a concurrent rezoning.
- This process aims to improve consistency in planning decisions and speed up assessment, without sacrificing housing quality.
- The HDA's role is to evaluation proposals submitted through an expression of interest process and recommend to the Minister whether they should be declared as state significant development. The Department assesses and the Minister or delegate determines declared applications.
- Following the Ministerial declaration as SSD, all proposals will undergo a rigorous merit assessment.
- Applicants still have the option to go through a local or regionally significant development pathway.
- The Government's priority is delivering completed homes, not just approvals.
Frequently asked questions
The Housing Delivery Authority was created under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act (1979). The Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure provides governance, operational and secretariat support.
The Ministerial Order that created the Housing Delivery Authority sets out its governance arrangements. How it conducts its business is set out in the Housing Delivery Authority Operating Procedures, Terms of Reference and Code of Conduct. These include robust probity requirements and processes for applying eligibility criteria to expressions of interest and for making recommendations to the Minister for Planning and Public Spaces. The Housing Delivery Authority will publish its recommendations.
The Housing Delivery Authority will meet regularly to consider expression of interest applications against the HDA’s criteria. It will make recommendations to the Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, who will declare a proposal to be state-significant development.
The Housing Delivery Authority must be satisfied that an expression of interest meets the criteria before it can recommend the proposal as state-significant development or state-significant development with a concurrent rezoning pathway.
The Minister for Planning and Public Spaces (or a delegate) is still the consent authority for proposals assessed through the HDA state-led approval pathway and rezoning process.
The Housing Delivery Authority will comply with its Code of Conduct and maintain the highest standards of integrity in communications, interactions and briefings. This will ensure the integrity of its process for considering expressions of interest.
To ensure the integrity of the Housing Delivery Authority process:
- members may decide not to respond to or meet with applicants about an active or future expression of interest submission, referring communication to the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure
- a member may declare a conflict of interest in the consideration of an expression of interest submission, in which case the Housing Delivery Authority will use an alternative panel member
- we will ensure departmental representatives, not panel members, ask an applicant for more information if it is needed
- members may reschedule or decline requested meetings until the expression of interest process has been completed if there is an unacceptable conflict of interest or integrity issue.
Applicants should not offer any gifts, benefits, or hospitality to Housing Delivery Authority panel members and departmental representatives. Any offers during the expression of interest process may create a higher risk of a perceived conflict of interest or create concerns about integrity. Panel members and departmental representatives will decline any such offers made during the expression of interest process.
The selection criteria for expressions of interest includes a requirement that the proposal shows the ability to begin quickly and deliver housing.
The Housing Delivery Authority will evaluate all major residential developments submitted through the expression of interest process, in line with the criteria. To meet the criteria, proposals will need to show that enabling infrastructure is available, particularly for affordability and timely construction.
The NSW Government set up the Housing Taskforce to maximise housing completions to 2027. It is a multi-agency group within the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure.
The role of the Housing Taskforce is to drive urgent action across Government to:
- speed up the determination of housing development applications, ensuring state referral advice and approvals for housing proposals under the local development pathway are prompt, timely and coordinated
- address barriers to post-consent requirements, covering consents issued under local and state-significant development pathways.
As a multi-agency and co-located group, the Housing Taskforce has planners from the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure working alongside colleagues from:
- Transport for NSW
- NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water
- Rural Fire Service
- Building Commissioner
- Homes NSW.
Other agencies involved include Sydney Water, WaterNSW, State Emergency Services, Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development – Fisheries, and the Environment Protection Agency.
More information
If you have any questions about the establishment of the HDA, email [email protected]