Retirement by Moran Managing Director Sally Taylor voiced the disappointment of the sector at LEADERS SUMMIT 2025 after the State Government released a housekeeping amendment to the Housing State Environmental Planning Policy.
“Myself and quite a number of the Not For Profits, including BaptistCare and Uniting, fought like tigers at the state government level to be able to address this new low and mid-rise housing policy that has just been introduced so that we could actually have retirement villages included, and a huge amount of work, resources, time, everything,” Sally said at LEADERS SUMMIT 2025.
“And it all came to nothing. And the biggest difficulty about it is that yesterday (Monday, March 17), it was announced affordable housing is being given all of those additional bonuses. Retirement village is one of the largest providers of affordable housing. I know because I plagiarise Daniel Gannon's work all the time.”
Daniel West, Director, Planning, Ethos Urban, said Stage 2 of the Low and Mid-Rise Housing Policy is “a worst-case scenario for the seniors housing industry as its 40+ year housing typology and Floor Space Ratio planning advantages over other forms of housing have evaporated in R2 zones within 800m of 171 identified stations/centres.”
“For ILUs, this is the ability to develop a multi-dwelling and low rise residential flat building housing typology in a zone where only dwelling houses and dual occupancies are typically permissible. Whilst for RCFs, it is providing an FSR of 1:1 where typically a 0.5:1 FSR or lower applies,” Daniel said.
“As of 28 February 2025, this long-standing housing typology and FSR advantage for seniors housing is not only gone in R2 zoned land within 800m of a station or centre, but even more troubling, seniors housing will be placed at a distinct disadvantage.
“Seniors housing has now become the roadkill of the NSW planning system.”
Over the past four years the seniors housing industry in NSW has, Daniel said:
i) lost its ability to develop on non-urban land;
ii) had its planning bonus in higher density zones eclipsed by the in-fill affordable housing bonus; and
iii) had its housing typology and FSR advantages in R2 zones evaporate to the point of disadvantage.
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