Housing Delivery Authority

The Housing Delivery Authority is established under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act (1979). It will be housed within the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure, which will provide governance and secretariat support.

Governance arrangements for the Housing Delivery Authority are set out in the Order that established it and how it conducts its business is set out in the HDA operating procedures, Terms of Reference and Code of Conduct. This includes robust probity requirements and processes for applying the criteria and making recommendations to the Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, which will be made public.

The HDA will meet monthly to discuss EOI applications.

It is ultimately a matter for the HDA to be satisfied whether an EOI addresses the criteria and should be recommended for the SSD or SSD and concurrent rezoning pathway. The HDA's recommendations will be published.

Nominations for expressions of interest will open on 8 January 2025 and must be submitted in the web form.

The EOI process will be open throughout the end of the Housing Accord period (June 2029) and EOIs will be considered monthly, meaning there will be multiple opportunities to submit proposals for major residential developments to the HDA each year.

The HDA will meet monthly to consider proposals against the EOI criteria and make recommendations to the Minister for Planning and Public Spaces who will declare a proposal SSD or SSD and concurrent site rezoning. The Minister remains the consent authority for projects assessed through the new state-led approval pathway and rezoning process.

The EOI eligibility criteria includes location, yield and speed to market. The pathway will be available for new major residential developments above an estimated development cost of about $60 million in Greater Sydney and about $30 million elsewhere.

View the HDA SSD EOI Criteria (PDF, 101 KB).

The EOI process will apply to major residential development across the State that meets the criteria, however, it will not include DAs already lodged through another pathway.

The HDA has been established to provide a consistent and equitable approach to the assessment of major residential developments. Therefore, no council will be excluded.

The Minister for Planning and Public Spaces (or delegate) will be the consent authority for DAs under this SSD pathway.

The Department aims to complete assessments coming through this pathway within 275 days from lodgement of the development application.

This pathway is a temporary measure to help deliver new homes faster during the Housing Accord period to June 2029.

Moves to streamline the assessment process for all major residential developments under the new pathway include the development of a single set Industry Specific Secretary’s Environmental Assessment Requirements (SEARS) for all major residential developments.

The Department has published new SEARs for housing ahead of the start of the EOI process. These SEARs will apply to various housing types, including those within the HDA pathway.

The new SEARs will provide for a simplified, more certain and consistent approach and ready-made assessment requirements for all major residential developments under the HDA.

Applicants will be able to apply for a SSD or a concurrent SSD and rezoning to be assessed by the Department.

The EOI criteria for state rezoning facilitates a concurrent SSD and state rezoning. Most rezoning proposals are expected to enable an SSD by addressing either permissibility or increased development standards.

The HDA process does not facilitate stand-alone rezonings as they are unlikely to deliver many homes within the Accord period. The recently established State Significant Rezoning Policy (launched September 2024) is fit for purpose.

The aim of the SSD pathway process is to encourage and identify major residential proposals and deliver more homes within the Housing Accord period by assessing and determining high-yield housing projects through the SSD pathway.

The new SSD pathway will speed up the planning process through:

• streamlined environmental assessment requirements
• greater ability to manage and coordinate agency inputs
• a single assessment and consent authority
• more consistency in assessment and determination outcome.

The Department has a target to complete all applicable state-significant development assessments for housing within 275 days of receiving an environmental impact statement, which will save crucial time for applicants.

The new SSD pathway will also create time savings and efficiencies for local councils, as it will reduce the number of development applications they must assess each year. Many councils are experiencing resourcing and skill shortages in development assessment, for both the volume and complexity of applications. The SSD pathway will free up councils' planning resources to focus on other important local development matters.

These efforts aim to meet NSW's National Housing Accord commitments and ensure a steady supply of affordable housing for the community.

Applicants will be able to apply for a SSD pathway or a concurrent SSD and rezoning proposal to be assessed by the Department.

It is intended that the new SSD pathway aligns with the streamlines process outlined in the State Significant Rezoning Policy. Any SSD requesting a concurrent rezoning will need to demonstrate how it addresses the criteria in the State Significant Rezoning Policy. This approach will have the benefit of allowing new projects to go through rezoning and development assessment at the same time.

The SSD process is different to the former Part 3A in many respects, critically the previous Part 3A pathway effectively switched off the planning rules, or development standards. In contrast the SSD pathway applies development standards set out in local environmental plans and State environmental planning policies and ensures outcomes align with those applicable standards.

The creation of the HDA provides a streamlined and robust way for additional residential of development to access the SSD pathway, projects will be reviewed and considered by the HDA against published objective criteria before being recommended to be declared SSD.

Once a proposal is declared to be SSD, the process for assessment and consideration of applications for State Significant Development remains the same as for other SSD applications.

Applicants will be able to apply for a State Significant Development pathway or a concurrent State Significant Development to be assessed by the Department.

The EOI criteria for state rezoning enables a concurrent SSD and state rezoning. Most EOI proposals are expected to enable an SSD by addressing either permissibility or increased height/floor space ratio.

Stand-alone rezonings are unlikely to deliver many homes in the Accord period. The recently established State Significant Rezoning Policy (launched September 2024) is fit for purpose with minimal tweaks to include HDA oversight.

Briefing sessions were held from mid-November to mid-December 2024 with key stakeholders to ensure the settings for the HDA EOI processes are fit-for-purpose and achieve the desired objectives. The feedback received through this process informed the finalisation of the EOI criteria and the SEARs.

From 8 January 2025 applicants will be able to submit an EOI to the HDA for major housing developments above approximately $60 million in Greater Sydney and $30 million in regional NSW via either an SSD pathway or SSD with a concurrent rezoning process.

The EOI process for SSD and SSD with a concurrent rezoning will be open throughout the duration of the Housing Accord period and EOIs will be reviewed monthly, meaning there will be multiple opportunities to submit proposals for major housing developments to the HDA each year.

Applicants will be able to apply for a State Significant Development pathway or a concurrent State Significant Development to be assessed by the Department.

The EOI selection criteria includes a requirement that demonstrates ability to quickly commence and deliver housing.

As with the HDA, 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 2027.

The role of the Taskforce is to drive urgent whole of government action to:

• Expedite the determination of housing development applications with a focus on making sure state referral advice and approvals for housing projects (under the local development pathway) are prompt, timely and coordinated.
• Address impediments to post consent requirements to deliver housing completions, covering consents issued under local and state significant development pathways.

As a multi-agency and co-located group, the Taskforce has planners from the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure work alongside their colleagues from:

• Transport for NSW
• Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water (water, heritage, biodiversity)
• Rural Fire Service
• Building Commissioner
• Homes NSW
• And from other agencies, including: Sydney Water, Water NSW, Rural Fire Service, SES, Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (Fisheries) and Environment Protection Agency.