Project update
On 25 March 2025, Council endorsed finalising a planning proposal to amend the Newcastle Local Environmental Plan 2012, enabling the City of Newcastle to levy affordable housing contributions on certain residential developments.
The planning proposal will now be forwarded to the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure for finalisation.
View the Council Report, final planning proposal and scheme, and Summary of Submissions from the Document Library.
Addressing affordable housing in Newcastle
An affordable housing needs assessment was recently undertaken which identified a significant shortfall in affordable housing. To address this, a draft Affordable Housing Contributions Scheme (the scheme) was prepared. The scheme satisfies commitments to increase the supply of affordable housing under City of Newcastle (CN)'s Housing Policy 2022 and Local Housing Strategy 2021 and Local Strategic Planning Statement 2021.
Affordable housing is important social infrastructure that supports community liveability and wellbeing, and helps to enable a strong and diverse local economy.
A planning proposal is the first step to introduce the scheme. Both the planning proposal and draft scheme were placed on public exhibition from 22 November 2024 to 2 February 2025.
The planning proposal is consistent with the objectives of the Newcastle 2040 Community Strategic Plan and our community's vision for a liveable, sustainable, inclusive city.
What's being proposed?
The planning proposal introduces two new clauses and a map layer to the Newcastle Local Environmental Plan 2012 (NLEP 2012). Once finalised, these will allow CN to impose conditions of consent on new development for contributions for affordable housing.
Our scheme is consistent with the NSW Government’s Guideline for Developing an Affordable Housing Contribution Scheme. It sets out how contributions for affordable housing will be levied on new development and provides worked examples.
- Provide for the delivery of affordable housing through the planning system, recognising its role as social infrastructure.
- Provide a transparent statutory framework for levying affordable housing contributions.
- Contribute towards achieving CN and state government objectives in relation to affordable housing.
- Implement viable affordable housing contribution rates that reflect development feasibility.
- Provide clarity to the community and development industry on CN's expectations for affordable housing contributions.
The scheme identifies the following areas where affordable housing contributions apply:
These areas are mapped in Part 4 of the planning proposal. Alternatively, you can explore them using the map on this page.
The scheme identifies the following contribution rates for identified affordable housing contribution areas:
The scheme's applicability in these areas is subject to future amendments to the NLEP 2012 allowing for uplift.
The scheme applies to development with an additional dwelling (or potential dwelling), and more than 540sqm residential gross floor area (GFA) on the site.
The following contribution rate applies:
The 1% contribution rate applies in the identified areas where development does not meet the relevant floor space ratio threshold for a larger contribution rate to apply.
Refer to the scheme for how it will apply and worked examples.
Thanks for having your say!
The draft scheme and planning proposal were placed on public exhibition from Friday 22 November 2024 to Sunday 2 February 2025.
All feedback was reviewed and considered. Amendments to the planning proposal were made to clarify how it is to be applied, implemented and administered. Read the Summary of Submissions for further information.
Next steps
The scheme will now be forwarded to the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure for finalisation after which it will be phased in over time to allow developers opportunity to factor it in prior to purchasing sites.
