Unless you’ve been living under a rock the last few months, you would have heard something about the new planning laws which have been announced by the NSW Government.
The Low and Mid-Rise Housing Policy is intended to increase housing stock in well located areas with good access to transport and amenities.
The Low and Mid-Rise Housing Policy is intended to increase housing stock in well located areas with good access to transport and amenities.
With a direct impact on the Northern Beaches, some areas are now permitted to build up to six-storey apartment blocks within 400m of a designated ‘transport hub’ or ‘town centre’, which include:
- Mona Vale
- Dee Why
- Brookvale
- Manly Vale
- Balgowlah
- Manly
- Forestville
- Frenchs Forest
Further to this, Scentre Group who owns and operates the Westfield Warringah Mall is seeking a separate rezoning approval to build an additional 1500 apartments on the Brookvale site above and beyond the LMR provisions.
Obviously, my headline might be a bit misleading and mostly echoes the instant reaction to some people on the Northern Beaches who don’t understand the impacts of this new policy.
Whilst the state government wants to encourage the building of more housing and increase density, in reality we’re not going to see a million new builds flying up around us and clogging the road with more traffic.
I personally don’t view this new policy as a negative. For those with normal incomes (who quite often are the backbone of our society, nurses, teachers, police etc.) this will hopefully bring some ease to housing costs, and (mind the pun) open new doors to those wanting to stay in the region they grew up and continue to enjoy what I believe is an incredible lifestyle.
It will be interesting to see which developers step forward and as a professional property buyer, I would definitely tread with caution if considering a new-build purchase, if and when they are completed.
There are some great developers out there and some new buildings are high quality. Our team have bought multiple properties in such buildings over the last few years where we have done extensive due-diligence on the quality and track-record.
Other developments however leave a lot to be desired… some of the things we see week in week out are shocking!
So, whilst you may read a lot of negative press about this new housing policy, as long as you get good advice on your property journey you can be sure to take advantage of it in the years to come.
If you or someone you know might be looking for an investment opportunity with rezoning upside, hoping to do a small development, or want to buy a newly built property on the Northern Beaches under the new laws, myself and the team at STRAND Property Buyers are here to help.
