One of the reasons for the continuing housing crisis in NSW is a complex planning system that can cause long waits for planning approvals. A slower process reduces the pace of building. It’s no wonder that housing supply struggles to keep up with demand.
On 17th September, the NSW State Government announced that it was introducing “landmark” legislation to reform the planning rules across the state, the biggest reforms in 50 years.
At the time of writing, this legislation has passed through the NSW Lower House and is now being debated by the Upper House.
As well as promoting the building of new homes, there are also some significant changes that should improve the process for anyone renovating their home.
The overall thrust of the new legislation is to make approvals simpler, quicker and more uniform across the different local councils.
Development Coordination Authority
At the heart of these reforms is a new body that will be called the Development Coordination Authority.
This will act as a “single front door” to advise on development applications and planning proposals on behalf of all NSW Government agencies.
It will also coordinate responses from all these state agencies. Essentially, they will do the running around that has, up to now, been done by the homeowner or anyone acting on their behalf.
Expanding the Complying Development Pathway
Another significant change for renovations is the expansion of the Complying Development rules.
Complying Developments already provide a fast-track approval process for straightforward renovation work that meets pre-determined standards.
With the new reforms, small variations on a complying development application have to be approved within 10 days, or the variation will automatically be deemed approved.
In the past, delays to approvals to these minor changes could sit with a Local Council for a significant length of time, completely undermining the idea of the fast-track option.
Standardisation Across Councils
The reforms aim to introduce consistent, state-wide consent conditions for standard developments. This provides greater certainty for builders and renovators.
For a builder like Addbuild, working across a number of different Local Councils in Sydney – and we often look after the approval process on behalf of clients – we should be able to work faster on both approvals and construction with more consistent rules.
What’s Next?
The NSW Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment Bill 2025 was passed with amendments by the NSW Legislative Assembly on 16 October, and debate began in the Legislative Council on 21 October.
As can be expected, there was a robust debate about the reforms, with some further amendments proposed. The debate is therefore continuing and set to resume on 11 November.
Looking to Renovate Now?
Whilst these reforms are welcomed, given the lead-time for talking to designers and builders, anyone looking to renovate their home shouldn’t delay waiting for the legislation to be passed.
If you are looking to add space to your home, we’d love to hear from you. As one of Sydney’s longest-standing ‘design and construct’ builders with a 45-plus year history, Addbuild offers a range of options to help Sydney homeowners.
Whilst we can certainly work with existing plans, and welcome early collaboration with an architect, we also offer a ‘concept to completion’ service where we design your plans, get them approved by your local council, and construct your project.
We also understand how to make use of the Complying Development pathway if at all possible.
Addbuild has worked in almost every Sydney local council area, completing more than 2,000 homes, and we use that experience and know-how to create designs that can be approved and then built as quickly as possible.
If you are thinking about expanding your home with a major renovation, we’d love to hear from you and share our experience.
Call our office on (02) 8765 1555 or send us a message using our contact form if outside of office hours.
If you are still researching, have a look at our blog, consumer guide to home improvement and masterclass to get further ideas about every aspect of renovating your home.
Searching for inspiration? Have a look at our Featured Projects and ‘Before and After’ photos.