Draft Western Sydney Regional Affordable Rental Housing Contribution Scheme

We are seeking your feedback on the draft Western Sydney Regional Affordable Rental Housing Contribution Scheme (Scheme) and accompanying draft Distribution Plan.

Proposal

Blacktown City Council is one of five Western Sydney councils exhibiting a draft Western Sydney Regional Affordable Rental Housing Contribution Scheme (Scheme) and accompanying draft Distribution Plan for public comment.

The draft Scheme proposes a modest monetary contribution from some new development to be introduced from March 2028 onwards. The draft Scheme will allow Council to levy an affordable rental housing contribution as a condition of consent for certain development approvals. These contributions will be used to provide affordable rental housing in Western Sydney.

The low contribution rates have been drafted to equate to:

• 1.5% of the floor area of residential developments
• 0.3% of the floor area of non-residential developments

If adopted, the Scheme will only be introduced from March 2028 to ensure that:

• the building sector has appropriate advance notice, and
• the introduction of the contribution does not undermine confidence and the continued delivery of residential development.

These modest contributions would be used to provide affordable rental housing, made available at rents that very low, low and moderate-income households can afford. The housing will be managed by community housing providers and occupied by local households including essential workers, families, seniors and others who are not able to afford the high price of private rentals.

The draft scheme is accompanied by a Distribution Plan. The draft Distribution Plan sets out details for how the contributions from the scheme would be used to commission and manage the affordable rental housing in the long-term.

Council resolved to exhibit the draft scheme at a recent Council meeting.

Who will the draft Scheme affect?

The draft scheme will help provide housing for a diverse range of people already living in the Council area, including essential workers, families, pensioners and others who are not able to afford the high price of private rentals.

The draft scheme is designed to have no impact on existing homeowners or new home buyers, as development applications (DAs) for new single dwelling houses and renovations (alterations and additions) are exempt from payment.

Developers and landowners will pay contributions when subdividing land for new dwellings, and for multi-unit dwellings, secondary dwellings and dual occupancies. Large commercial, retail and industrial DAs will be required to make a small contribution, but businesses proposing developments under 1000 sqm will be exempt. This will help to ensure industry contributes to housing needs in the region, but with little to no impact on small business.

Public Exhibition

The draft Western Sydney Regional Affordable Rental Housing Contribution Scheme and accompanying draft Distribution Plan and appendices are on public exhibition from 10 March until 7 April 2025.

You can make a written submission or request further information via the following:

• Using the below submission form
• Email council@blacktown.nsw.gov.au and reference 'submission to the Draft Western Sydney Regional Affordable Rental Housing Contribution Scheme'
• Mail to PO Box 63, Blacktown NSW 2148 and reference 'submission to the Draft Western Sydney Regional Affordable Rental Housing Contribution Scheme'

Submissions will close at 5pm on 7 April 2025.

Next Steps

After the public exhibition of the draft Scheme and Distribution Plan, the feedback received will be considered by the Councils and taken into consideration in finalising the Scheme and Distribution Plan. Each Council will then decide whether to endorse and implement the Scheme.

The final scheme will be enabled via an amendment to environmental planning instruments, including Council LEPs, and would only apply to development applications lodged on or after the commencement date in March 2028.

Supporting Documents

For more information regarding the draft Scheme and draft Distribution Plan, please refer to the documents at the top right of this page.

Enquiries

For further enquiries please contact Emma Rogerson, Principal Strategic Planner - Housing via email on emma.rogerson@blacktown.nsw.gov.au