Flowchart fail: The DA document that shows why NSW can’t get houses built

It’s the one-page document that exposes the snakes and ladders approval process tying the NSW DA process in knots. And the Premier, who asked for the step-by-step guide, has had enough.

• Rubik’s Cube creator couldn’t solve this puzzle

It’s the snakes-and-ladders maze that unmasks why we’re in a housing crisis.

This one document was commissioner personally by the Premier Chris Minns. He asked planning boffins to explain the state’s approval system on a single page.

The result, which took months to compile, is a testament to our planning quagmire.

It has prompted Mr Minns to declare he will soon announce a sweeping overhaul of the system.

The turgid process that is bogging down new homes in red tape is revealed in a one-page document which sets out the five “major” stages of any development in the state.

Even if everything goes right with a development application, a new home would need to go through 27 separate stages before someone can move in.

An increasing number of “conditions” are being also slapped onto approved DAs, leaving developers waiting even longer before they can get a construction certificate.

Mr Minns demanded planning bureaucrats produce the step-by-step guide showing how the process works in a bid to streamline the system and get new homes built faster.

The document reveals that some applicants would have to go through almost 50 individual steps before getting an occupation certificate for their building, not including any “re-exhibitions” required by councils during initial stages.

Reviews, appeals and modifications of applications add further complexity to the process.

The chart only outlines how DAs are dealt with by councils; applications to rezone land for higher density housing would take even longer.

The current system, criticised by developers as not fit-for-purpose, is doing nothing to aid the government meeting an ambitious target of building 377,000 new homes from 2024 to 2029.

In Greater Sydney, the target is 263,000 homes.

On current Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (DPHI) forecasts, just 151,670 homes are expected to be built in Greater Sydney over the five years to 2029 - more than 100,000 homes short of the target the Premier agreed to in national cabinet.

In the six years to 2029, 172,920 new homes are forecast to be built; incredibly, that is 10.2 per cent fewer than the number of homes completed in the six years prior (192,498).

Premier Chris Minns, the one-page explaining document that took three months to produce, and The Daily Telegraph's front page on Tuesday. Pictures: News Corp/Supplied

Despite state and federal leaders promising to build new homes, the number of dwelling approvals has gone backwards.

In September, the number of homes approved was all but flat — an increase of 0.2 per cent — while “total dwelling approvals” were down 2.3 per cent.

Mr Minns blamed the slump on a system designed by his predecessors, foreshadowing a “major” overhaul of the process.

“This map shows just how confused, complicated and absurd the system that we inherited is. It shows the scale of the problem and why change is so necessary,” he said.

“You’d be forgiven for thinking this map is a game of snakes and ladders, not a process that should exist to help get much needed homes built across out state.”

“We know that this needs to change and will have major changes to announce soon, but unless we reform this planning system, we are planning to fail.

Developers said the flow chart shows demonstrates all the challenges standing in the way of housing supply.

Urban Taskforce CEO Tom Forrest accused the former government of failing to listen to advice on how to fix the system.

IT’S COMPLICATED

“When the former Government appointed a new Planning Minister and Secretary (Anthony Roberts and Mick Cassel), I urged them to have DPHI workshop and whiteboard every opportunity for speeding up the system,” he said.

“It did not happen. Worse, it still hasn’t happened.”

Mr Forrest said the one-page flow chart only showed “one piece of the puzzle”.

“What’s presented here is complicated enough, but it does not reflect the gruesome entirety of the NSW planning system.”

Urban Development Institute of Australia CEO Stuart Ayres also called for the system to be simplified.

He accused councils and the planning department of approving DAs “with strings attached”.

Mr Ayres said builders are forced to wait “months or years” to start building, due to delays in enabling infrastructure like roads and sewage.

“Getting a DA approved means little if it takes months or years to get all the conditions agreed to,” he said.

Planning Minister Paul Scully blamed the former government for creating a broken system that he is now “working to fix”.

“It’s no wonder things got so far behind over the last decade,” he said.

“No one in their right mind would invent a system like this and expect it to perform in the interests of building homes, supporting job-creation and attracting investment.

“While we were left with this maze of a system that is difficult to fix quickly,” he said.

The Property Council welcomed Mr Minns pledging to make major changes to the current convoluted system.

“Clearer pathways, fewer hoops, no excuses,” NSW Executive Director Katie Stevenson said.

“It’s past time to align our planning system with our housing needs, to make sure every approval step brings us closer to homes for families and communities across NSW.”

“Housing is the government’s top priority, so planning reform needs to be a reality,” she said.

Originally published as Flowchart fail: The DA document that shows why NSW can’t get houses built