The NSW Government’s new Housing Code began on the 27 February, allowing for a broad range of new homes and home renovation approvals in only 10 days, without the need for any DA or council involvement at all.
Together with record-low interest rates for homeowners and increased homeowner grants, these reforms may well encourage investment, creating a stimulus for the building industry.
The new Codes provide a set of clear and reasonably generous design criteria such as allowable heights, building setbacks and landscaped areas. In Metropolitan NSW the average time to approve a DA is 121 days.
Applicants will now be able to take their design directly to a private certifier or the council, who must then check whether the design meets the pre-set criteria. A certificate of approval must be issued within 10 days if the design meets all the criteria.
Neighbours will not have any rights to object the application however they will be notified once the approval has been issued.
The NSW Government hopes to have 50% of all housing and renovation approvals approved under the new Code rather than through a Council DA assessment process.
This should enable homeowners and housing developers to commence work quickly and cheaply and with a real level of certainty, avoiding expensive and prolonged disputes with neighbours and councils.
