Revealed: How fast each Sydney council approves new homes

The NSW Labor government will use a new league table to expose councils that are dragging their heels in approving development applications for new housing as it searches for ways to ensure it meets its ambitious targets of 377,000 extra homes within five years.

The league table, published for the first time on Thursday, reveals the top and bottom performers, with Georges River, North Sydney and Sutherland the slowest councils in Greater Sydney in terms of DA approvals.

Wollondilly and Blacktown are the two most speedy, with an average of 53 and 65 assessment days, respectively. In comparison, Georges River takes 259 days, and North Sydney 246.

Councils approve about 85 per cent of all residential development applications, prompting the Minns government to also release a new statement of expectations order for local government.

Under that order, councils must determine development applications within an average of 115 days, but that timeframe speeds up each year, reducing to an average of 105 days in 2025–26, 95 days in 2026–27 and 85 days from July 1, 2027.

According to the league table, 21 councils in Sydney are taking more than an average of 115 days to approve development applications.

Georges River is the slowest council in great Sydney when it comes to determining housing DAs.Credit: James Brickwood

The council league table and statement of expectations are part of the government’s faster assessments program. This includes $200 million in financial incentives for councils that meet the new expectations for development applications, planning proposals and strategic planning.

These financial incentives will include grants for councils to fund more green space, such as parks and sporting facilities, as well as the maintenance of local streets and footpaths.

The league table, which will updated daily with information from councils, will be used to identify those councils that consistently underperform over time. Minister for Local Government Ron Hoenig has the power to issue a performance improvement order to repeat poor performers, which would start with an action plan.

If a council does not comply with its action plan and its performance does not improve, the minister could appoint a planning administrator or hand functions to a Sydney or regional planning panel.

The league table will also publish the time it takes for state agencies, such as Transport for NSW and the NSW Rural Fire Service, to assess parts of a development application.

Minister for Planning Paul Scully said the performance of councils was “critical to confronting the housing crisis”.

“We are now introducing new performance standards and monitoring because if we don’t measure
performance, then we can’t monitor it properly,” Scully said.

“Councils approve the vast majority of residential development in our state, so tracking their performance is critical if we together want to meet our housing targets. But we will also track the performance of the state government to hold ourselves to account.”

Regionally significant development applications referral times to planning panels will be published from August, state-significant development assessment timeframes for infill affordable housing in September, and transport-oriented development assessment timeframes in 2025.

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