New State Government housing rules fast-track medium density housing

9 April 2018

New housing rules announced by the NSW Government on Friday 6 April 2018, will fast-track and increase medium density housing in Randwick City, Randwick Mayor Lindsay Shurey said today.

The Low Rise Medium Density Housing Code and Low Rise Medium Density Design Guide released by the government provides for the construction and subdivision of dual occupancies, manor houses and terraces to be built under a fast-tracked complying development process.

Randwick Mayor Lindsay Shurey said Council staff are analysing the details of the announcement to determine its impact on Randwick City.

“This code provides the opportunity to build and subdivide more medium density homes such as attached dual occupancies on smaller blocks in R2 Low Density Residential zones.

“Development approved in this way could result in new homes built and strata subdivided on blocks as small as 225sqm which is less than Randwick’s current minimum lot size of 400sqm.

“This will be very welcome news by some sections of our community – in particular people wanting to build dual occupancy premises and apply for Torrens and Strata subdivision.

“Just last week I facilitated a forum on minimum lot sizes and heard first-hand the financial pressure and stress owners of company title properties are under,” Mayor Shurey said.

The forum was part of a Council-initiated two-month community consultation process with the community on the issue of minimum lot size.

“While they’ll be those within the community very happy with this change, I think the broader community will be waiting to see what effect this has on the future character and density of our suburbs.

“These new controls are effectively a game changer for housing not just for Randwick City but the broader Sydney metropolitan area.

“I’ll be watching with interest to see the effect it has on housing affordability, density and parking and traffic issues.

“I note however these changes don’t appear to apply to owners of existing dual occupancies,” Mayor Shurey said.