Revealed: The Sydney suburbs set for rezoning for high density housing

The areas of Sydney which will be rezoned, or have planning controls overhauled to allow for higher density housing can finally be revealed, after the Department of Planning accidentally published the information online.

Screenshot of a leaked NSW Planning document revealing areas to be rezoned to allow apartment blocks. Picture: Supplied

The areas of Sydney to be targeted for higher density housing to deliver tens of thousands of new homes can finally be revealed, after the Department of Planning accidentally published the government’s full housing blueprint online.

The premature release revealed that suburbs around eight rail and Metro stations will be rezoned for higher density to deliver 45,000 new homes which will be completed and occupied by November 2027.

Planning controls will also be overhauled around 31 additional railway stations to allow for more mid-rise apartment blocks.

The eight areas targeted for new apartments will be: Bankstown, Bays West (also known as The Bays Precinct), Bella Vista, Crows Nest, Homebush, Hornsby, Kellyville, and Macquarie Park.

Land within 1200 metres of those stations will be rezoned for higher density to deliver up to 45,000 homes – including “affordable homes” within walking distance of transport links.

Screenshots of a leaked NSW Planning document revealing areas to be rezoned to allow apartment blocks. Picture: Supplied

Screenshots of a leaked NSW Planning document revealing areas to be rezoned to allow apartment blocks. Picture: Supplied

Planning controls in a further 31 suburbs will be overhauled to make way for mid-rise “Paris-style” apartment blocks.

That will allow new apartment blocks in the North Shore suburbs of Gordon, Killara, Lindfield and Roseville.

In the Inner West, planning controls will be overhauled in North Strathfield, Marrickville, Dulwich Hill, Ashfield, Croydon, and Canterbury.

In the west, Berala, Lidcombe, St Marys, and Wiley Park will get new apartments near rail lines, as will southern Sydney suburbs of Banksia, Kogarah, Rockdale and Turrella.

The so-called “Transport Oriented Development Program” makes good on a Premier Chris Minns pledge to build more houses around public transport links.

The additional highrise is planned around Metro stations.

The Planning Department link also appears to confirm the government will press ahead with a Metro line between Parramatta and the CBD.

One of the Metro stations where land will be rezoned is The Bays, near Rozelle. The Bays is one of the Metro stations planned for the $25 billion Metro West project linking the Westmead and Hunter Street in the CBD.

Land within 1,200 metres of the stations will be rezoned “to allow for more new and affordable homes,” the Planning Department website said.

The rezoning will form the first tranche of the Transport Oriented Development Program, designed to build more homes close to existing transport links.

The second part of the plan involves overhauling planning controls on “precincts” located within 400 metres of 31 train stations to allow for more multistorey housing.

The eight heavy rail and Metro stations which will be targeted for higher density living. Source: Department of Planning,

The timeline – posted online before being taken down – said that the rezoning would be complete by November next year, allowing development applications to be lodged by July 2025.

The plans gave just three months for the DAs to be assessed, allowing for construction on new homes to begin in January 2026.

The Department of Planning envisaged that new homes would be completed and occupied by November 2027.

Owner of Fruitologist grocer and cafe in Rozelle Danny Macri had mixed opinions on higher rezoning,saying the plans for additional housing would ultimately be “great for local businesses.”

However Mr Macri also said he empathised with residents who may be upset by the increase in high density housing.