NSW government changes to housing code Duplexs here we come :) Some one will be doing well

Own a home on a narrow block? It may have just gone up in value by $240,000

Seems like a lot of new supply will come online soon.


Owners of small, narrow properties who never thought their blocks were suitable for development are set to benefit under new statewide planning laws designed to fast-track medium-density housing in NSW.

Under the new medium-density housing code announced last week, duplexes, terraces and manor houses can be approved as complying developments in as little as 20 days, skipping the development application process.


However also part of the new rules is that blocks now only need to be 12 metres wide for a duplex, overriding existing council rules requiring frontages to be at least 15 to 20 metres.

 

Thank you Big Australia/Mass Immigration, no more backyard for your undeserving kids :-(.

Madness but hey, it s good for the only thing that matters, GDP (not per capita of course)

 

Own a home on a narrow block? It may have just gone up in value by $240,000

 

Beautiful!!! - these new regulations will help me alot with my other properties I'm planning to build duplex's on.

Cha Ching!!

 

This is great news for current Sydney property holders. Pretty much all blocks over 400 sqm and 12 meters frontage can build duplex through complying development. Another mini boom for Sydney??

 

Bugger, after a few agonizing weeks of deciding whether to sell our IP's out that way we'd pretty much decided to but now this news put's a whole new slant on things. Without digging too deep yet I'd say ours fall under these new guidelines. Looks like more research on the cards and maybe sit on them a while longer...

 

Interesting......

 

If you can finance new builds, worth the wait. there are costs associated with development and lots of buffers needed.

 

How do they define 12m? Will I get 3 If I have 18m but only 50'width?

 

I wonder if we can combine this with the granny flat rules and build duplexes with granny flats at the back lol. Or convert existing GF on corner blocks to duplexes.

 

that's what was predicted - increasing density is only way to overcome the growth of population and high house prices. Building new suburbs 50-80km from CBD is not an option.

owners of large land lots will benefit for sure, however not sure about existing duplexes as it would be over-supply in that segment. + lots of jobs for builders + extra stamp duty to gov.

good move in general.

 

The big premiums that vendors received with wide frontages of 20 meters to build duplex's will not be as great with the new rules. Having said that anyone with a frontage of between 12 and 18 meters will be the big winners with the new laws.

Will this mean a lot of Mum and Dad developers or will they all be sold off to developers ? The issue now will be getting those pesky construction loans under the new APRA rules. Interesting times ahead.

No point relaxing the laws on development, if the banks will not give loans for construction.

Interesting times ahead.

 

"Blocks still need to meet the minimum size required for a dual occupancy by council, usually 500 or 600 square metres. But if no minimum is specified under the council’s local environmental plan, lots only need to be 400 square metres."

Ok so the only real change is the frontage requirement and it can be approved as complying development? I checked 2 of my properties which are in R2 - Low Density zones and its says 900 sqm minimum for dual occupancy. The lots are only about 550 sqm so can't be done anyway. I had my hopes up for a while there.

 

Yes... correct...i too thought money for jam until I read that the blocks still have to qualify under EXISTING LEP rules for dual occupancy... this just streamlines development for those that do.

 

Plus the financials don't really work for duplexes in cheaper suburbs.

 

It will add up when 4 bedders in Mt Druitt are asking over $750k especially for investors who bought a long time ago.

Obviously you need to get a good builder at a good price to do the job but for someone who bought at $200k, demolished now and built a duplex each with 4 bedroom you would have to do something seriously stupid to not make money or seriously getting ripped by builders.

If you bought in recently at the peak well yeah it wont make much sense at the moment but these changes may help them in the future.

 

Anyway it is a bit demoralizing that the min block size is first governed by council stipulations. Very very annoying.

On the flipside, more supply = more subdued rental growth. Its a delicate balance of which is more important.

 

My suspicion is that a lot of duplex and townhouse developments only stack up when prices are rising, and that the margins will be a lot tighter in a flat market.

Perhaps the trick will be to get two or three blocks in a line, and develop them together, getting some economies of scale.

 

This in an ideal situation. I've been hassling my neighbors to sell to me for a while now - even offered premium because they are corner block. If I could attain that I would be building a little complex of easily 8 x townhouses. They bloody wont sell to me.

Because of the price growth any investors who bought several years ago developing is making sense now in the cheaper suburbs - there are very decent profits to be made.

 

Reading through the guide (haven't finished), this point is interesting....

"Multi dwelling housing (terraces) must be permissible on the lot on which the development is proposed. The LEP that applies to the land will indicate if the development is permissible."

Which means if the LEP doesn't allow multi unit dwellings on the site anyway (eg R2), then these new rules mean squat.