It is now easier for those considering the knockdown and rebuilding of a home to plan, build, and move in, with comprehensive information on the process added to the popular myHome Planner tool.
Critical information from 48 government sites on the knockdown/rebuild process has been pulled into the online tool making it a valuable resource.
Member for Gosford Liesl Tesch says the myHome Planner is an easy-to-use digital platform that takes away the guesswork when doing a new build, providing reliable information on key steps, obligations, and approvals, in a single location.
“This is a fantastic resource for helping people research, plan and design a home,” she said.
“I have taken a look through myHome Planner and it is clear that it is a comprehensive ‘single source of truth’ for current and prospective homeowners.
“Building a new home can be exciting and equally it can be fraught with complexity, which can lead to information overload.
“It is wonderful to see how practical information from 48 government sites has been brought together to guide users step by step.
“We need more homes built and expanding this digital resource to include information on knockdown rebuilds makes it that little bit easier,” Tesch said.
Current or prospective homeowners can enter the property address and gain access to relevant council information, zoning, ratings, easement information, developer guidelines such as building heights and minimum block size, and relevant planning controls such as bushfire and flood risk.
The NSW Government is seeking to reach the NSW National Housing Accord target of 377,000 well-located new homes over the coming five years, following reforms to low and mid-rise housing, which commenced on July 1 this year.
Tesch said these changes allowed development applications for dual occupancies and semi-detached dwellings to be submitted in more R2 residential zones, such as duplexes and semis.
“Enabling dual occupancies in these locations allows homeowners with suitable blocks to replace one existing home with two dwellings.
“Other low and mid-rise housing reforms will commence later in 2024.
“These will include townhouses, terraces and two storey apartment blocks near transport hubs and town centres in R2 low density residential zones across Greater Sydney, the Hunter, Central Coast and Illawarra regions and mid-rise apartment blocks near transport hubs and town centres in R3 medium density and R4 high density residential zones across these regions,” Tesch said.
The myHome Planner was developed in collaboration with the Department of Customer Service and is available at the NSW Planning Portal at www.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/myhome-planner