Holiday rental accommodation takes up as much as 10 per cent of housing on the Central Coast, according to a Local Housing Strategy (LHS), adopted by Administrator Rik Hart at the May 28 Central Coast Council meeting.
The Strategy will now be presented to the State Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (DPHI), for endorsement.
It says that about 10 per cent of private dwellings within the Central Coast Local Government Area were unoccupied on Census night in 2021.
Three districts recorded unoccupancy rates above the average.
They were: the Mountains District with 18 per cent unoccupied; The Entrance District also with 18 per cent unoccupied; and the Coastal District which takes in the beaches from Wamberal south with 16 per cent unoccupied.
Approximately 21 per cent were flats compared to eight per cent of detached houses.
Occupancy was lowest amongst flats in high density blocks.
The Strategy said the unoccupied dwellings were probably holiday homes or being used as short-term rental accommodation (STRA).
“More recent data confirms the number of whole Central Coast homes registered on the STRA Register in 2023, equates to 2,961 whole homes across the Local Government Area (LGA),” the report says.
The Coast has 152,370 homes in total.
“The Central Coast has a significant proportion of dwellings with surplus bedrooms (2021 figures), with approximately 68 per cent of dwellings having at least one spare room,” the strategy says.
“This suggests that households are paying for dwellings that are larger than they need (either by choice or not), or are not able to find appropriate alternatives.”
Actions contained within the Local Housing Strategy will be considered when Council sets priorities for its strategic planning work program in the Operational Plan and annual budget.
The LHS encourages the provision of new housing in locations that support the 15-minute region and 30-minute connected communities objective in the Central Coast Regional Plan, including housing that meets the needs of all households within the Central Coast LGA community, regardless of size, culture, affluence and physical and mental health requirements.
It will also encourage the planning of housing within neighbourhoods that offer sufficient amenity, including high quality and accessible civic, open and community spaces and connection to transport corridors.
The Central Coast Local Environmental Plan 2022 and Central Coast Development Control Plan 2022 will be updated to develop controls to encourage more small lot housing in appropriate locations and review residential zones to ensure that a consistent approach is applied to the application of R1, R2 and R3 Zones.
This will include a review of land use tables, minimum lot size, building height and floor space ratio development standards.
Council will audit development bonuses operating in different town centres and investigate urban expansion and infill opportunities in specific locations including Wyong, parts of the Coastal District, Narara Valley and Toukley District.
This will involve investigating servicing capacity (water, sewer and services availability).
It will expand medium-density residential, residential density and housing diversity around centres and along corridors.
Council is currently applying for various grants from the NSW Government to assist in funding the implementation of such actions.
“Grant funding would be utilised to undertake detailed master planning and review of planning controls in key centres consistent with the State Government Housing Reforms included the Transit Oriented Development (TOD) provisions in State Environmental Planning Policy (Housing) 2021 relating to Woy Woy, Gosford, Tuggerah and Wyong,” the LHS says.
The State Government recently introduced TOD for areas close to train stations.
It is also working on new guidelines to encourage low and mid-rise housing to fill the gap between detached homes and high-rise apartment buildings.
“Our reforms will look at a range of opportunities to unlock supply of low-rise housing like terraces and dual occupancies and mid-rise housing of up to six storeys in well-located areas,” the State Government said.
“Reforms will contribute to more housing diversity and affordability as well as creating thriving local communities.”
Merilyn Vale