New housing developments to be turbocharged with $500 million budget pledge

Premier Dominic Perrottet’s government has pledged half a billion dollars to boost housing supply and ease the affordability crisis. Here’s how the cash will be spent.

More land will be unlocked and planning approvals will be fast-tracked as part of a $500 million budget bid to fix the state’s housing supply crisis.

The half a billion dollar commitment aims to tackle housing affordability by enabling several hundred thousand homes to be built in places like southwest and northwest Sydney.

The program will spend $300 million to fund and deliver “shovel-ready” infrastructure to support new housing projects in Sydney and regional NSW.

Almost $90 million will be used to cut planning red tape and fast-track assessments, and $70 million will be committed to accelerating rezoning of housing precincts.

It will also fund a flying squad of planning specialists who can be called in to accelerate council-led rezonings.

Premier Dominic Perrottet said the investment would give people more choice about where they live and work. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

In addition to housing supply measures for Sydney, tomorrow’s budget will also allocate $34 million over four years to deliver more homes in regional NSW.

The $300 million committed to infrastructure projects will build things like water connections, roads, sewers and parks, enabling new housing to be built on Sydney’s fringes.

Premier Dominic Perrottet said the investment will help give people more choice in where they live, work, and raise families.

“This is about getting keys in doors with this commitment supercharging housing supply to help people across the State get one step closer to home ownership,” Mr Perrottet said.

Treasurer Matt Kean said money to fast-track planning approvals will see high-quality projects built faster.

“We are anticipating hundreds of thousands of homes will be delivered sooner, through faster state and local rezonings and approvals.”

Treasurer Matt Kean will hand his first budget down on Tuesday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

The budget commitment will fund more infrastructure in regional NSW to give developers certainty in planning new projects.

“This investment will help regional NSW keep up with current and future demand,” Housing Minister Anthony Roberts said.

It comes after Premier Perrottet announced a major shared-equity scheme to help teachers, nurses, police, single parents and older singles.

Under the plan, which mirrors an election commitment from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, the NSW government will contribute an equity stake of up to 40 per cent for a new property or 30 per cent for an existing home purchased by an eligible buyer.

Participants must have a gross income of $90,000 for a single and $120,000 for a couple. The scheme will help people buying property worth up to $950,000 in Sydney and other regional centres.

The federal Coalition was scathing of Mr Albanese’s policy, but Mr Perrottet yesterday said he hoped his counterparts in Canberra would “see the light” and support NSW’s shared equity scheme.