Assessment delays are a hot button topic in New South Wales, and the NSW Government has released data showing that minor errors in development applications are compounding the issue.
While the Government has brought in initiatives such as the Housing Delivery Authority and council and agency trackers to expedite assessment timeframes, just under a fifth of applications in the past 12 months were delayed due to inconsistencies.
According to the NSW Government, 5250 development applications were considered by councils, and 962 of them were lodged with minor issues only identified post-consent.
It said the issues were “resulting in unnecessary and avoidable delays” in assessment timeframes.
The State Government has now released guidance for councils on best practice for reviewing draft conditions of consent “to reduce errors and eliminate the need for some modification applications”.
The new process will apply for developments with 30 or more homes, with councils providing applications with draft conditions of consent during the assessment process.
Developers will have seven days to review the draft conditions and provide feedback.
The Government said the process is already undertaken at state level, and aims to “identify and correct…minor errors and inconsistencies before the consent is granted” and thus speed up assessment timeframes.
NSW Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully said they were “simple errors” causing delays.
“A planning circular will be issued so that typos don’t get in the way of building new homes,” he said in a media statement.
“The NSW Government has adopted a better practice when it comes to consent conditions to see better results and more homes built faster.”
The news comes as the analysis from the Property Council of Australia shows that Sydney councils in particular are falling behind on approvals.
Less than one in four of Greater Sydney’s 33 councils were meeting target assessment times for higher density residential approvals in the seven months to February 2025, the PCA said.
The average wait time is now 173 days, and many projects remain stuck in the system for more than 250 days.
