National Rental Affordable Housing Planning laws.

It may have been discussed before but does anyone know what the planning laws are around NRAs for people who are developing?

For example can they bypass local governments policy around zoning, storm water policy etc in a way that some or all of them can be bypassed in order to build a town house with strata subdivision?

Are the DAs submitted to local government for approval?

 

The state SEPPs can override local government LEPs in certain circumstances so I guess a national one would be at least be higher in the hierarchy? A DA would be submitted but you would request the proposal to be assessed against the national code?

 

If you have the appetite for it, you can use the SEPP for Boarding Houses but may need to fight L&E court for the DA as it is a permissible use in many areas. 16 odd rooms at $300+/wk sure beats a single house with a gf or duplex.

 

You are getting NRAS and AHSEPP mixed up. NRAS is a tax credit. AHSEPP is NSW ( not national) planning code/legislation.

What they have in common is the 20/10 rule ie that the dwelling be rented 20% below market value for 10 years. But AHSEPP is mandatory for 10 years. NRAS is voluntary. ie you can cease to participate the dwelling in the NRAS if you choose. AHSEPP requires that a registered CHP ( Community Housing Provider) acts as tenancy manager. NRAS allows any tenancy manager to act - subject to being able to cut a deal with the NRAS approved participant providing the NRAS incentive.

To elaborate further ; AHSEPP relates to floor space ratio (FSR) mainly. It also relates to granny flats and boarding houses, but its most frequently used as a FSR booster. Developers can apply to council under a Section 96 to get approved for extra FSR than they would normally be allowed to build under local LEP's. Generally it's @ 30% extra FSR. In a nutshell- they can build extra stock. However, the extra stock must be made available as Affordable Housing at a 20% discount for 10 years, managed by a CHP...and there is no tax credit paid to them for doing so. The extra FSR is the carrot, rather than a tax credit. So the benefit goes to the developer. It appears on the DA and is on title ...

NRAS is a tax credit carrot, paid to investors as an "incentive" to offer their dwellings as affordable housing for up to 10 years. Its voluntary, doesnt need to be managed by a CHP and the benefit goes to the investor not the developer. Doesnt appear on title. Its just like neg gearing, an "invisible" tax advantage.

They compliment each other in NSW, but they arent the same as each other.... What I mean by that is that smart developers used AHSEPP to get extra FSR on their projects AND got NRAS placed on those affordable dwellings ( if they had the contacts necessary to do so) so they got a benefit twice - they could build extra stock and sell to investors with an NRAS credit - or retain it for themselves with the NRAS credit.

It was only when developers cottoned on to the potency of this combination that affordable housing started being embraced by developers in NSW..but just as it was gaining momentum, further NRAS incentives were taken off the table by Hockey and Abbott and its why affordable housing on any scale has once again been largely shelved by developers. And it's why , in spite of all efforts to talk it up,Lucy Turnbull, the City Of Sydney Planning Commission, Clover Moore and whoever the NSW planning minister of the day are, they are getting , and will continue getting, little or no buy in for affordable housing from private sector developers. That leaves CHP's to try and get it done, and most of them couldnt organise a p*** up in a brewery to be frank

Anyway.... no, NRAS wont get you around any council requirements around around zoning, storm water policy etc. Nor will AHSEPP

 

You'd probably also need cash. Banks wont lend against boarding houses as a general rule. And forget selling them - no prospective investors are going to get loans either... well, not impossible...but damn damn hard. You'd need to be willing to strata the development... meaning $$$$$ . I'm aware of multiple boarding house projects with NRAS on them - making them off the charts cash cows, which developers have tried selling in one line or individually via Jones Lang Lasalle, CBRE and others .... dead in the water. I've been asked to step in and sell them... 20M2 - 30M2 each room... no thanks.

 

Thank you for the comments above.

I am looking at a project that is more of a council DCP issue in terms of storm water drainage in that council are quite strict in wanting to see easement whereas engineers have found ways of designing the hydraulics in such a way that easement is not required.

So while extra FSR would be nice, I was keen to see if AHSEPP can successfully be used to bypass the very strict council policy in favour of a more lenient way of designing storm water drainage.

Do you think this may be a possibility?

 

NO..I dont believe so. You have to deal with council requirements separately to AHSEPP