Build a multi storey apartment building via the Housing Delivery Authority — New South Wales

The same building as the council pathway, assessed by a different body under a different procedure. This is the closest thing Australian planning has to a controlled experiment, and it is running right now at scale.

developmentClass 2 residential apartment building meeting the capital investment threshold for declaration as state significant development skeleton compare across jurisdictions

This is a structural skeleton, not a measured process. The steps, the authorities and the sequence are researched from this jurisdiction's published requirements and are broadly right. The durations are a uniform template applied across all jurisdictions, so the differences between them on the comparison page are mostly an artefact of that template rather than evidence about Australia. Do not quote the day counts. Replacing them with sourced figures for even one jurisdiction would make this page genuinely useful.

1048 days elapsed
longest dependent chain

17 discrete steps
across 5 bodies

18% waiting on availability
scheduling or queue, not assessment

45 days saved by concurrency
vs. 1093 if run end-to-end

Where the time goes

Critical-path days only. Steps that run alongside others are real work but do not lengthen the process, so counting them here would overstate the prize.

applicant	560d	Waiting on the applicant to supply or fix something.
assessment	270d	Someone is genuinely evaluating the merits.
scheduling	100d	Waiting for a person or committee to become available.
queue	90d	Waiting behind unrelated work in a backlog.
statutory	28d	A legislated period that must elapse regardless of readiness.

190 of 1048 elapsed days are spent waiting for a person or a meeting rather than for a judgement to be formed. Removing that time changes no assessment standard and lowers no bar -- it is the cost of scheduling alone.

The process, step by step

Applies when: A housing proposal above the capital investment threshold that the Minister has declared to be state significant development on the recommendation of the Housing Delivery Authority.

#	Step	Who	Why it waits	Clock	Typical	Basis
1	Expression of interest to the Housing Delivery Authority application The proponent asks to be moved out of the council pathway.	Housing Delivery Authority (NSW)	applicant	—	30 estimate	—
2	Housing Delivery Authority considers the proposal assessment A panel of senior officials considers proposals in batches and recommends declaration. after Expression of interest to the Housing Delivery Authority 973d slack	Housing Delivery Authority (NSW)	scheduling	—	45 estimate	—
3	Ministerial declaration as state significant development decision after Housing Delivery Authority considers the proposal 943d slack	Housing Delivery Authority (NSW)	scheduling	—	30 estimate	State Environmental Planning Policy (Planning Systems) 2021 (NSW)
4	Prepare design and consultant documentation application Architectural, civil, traffic, waste, landscape, stormwater and acoustic documentation, plus a design statement. after Ministerial declaration as state significant development 643d slack	—	applicant	—	300 estimate	—
5	Secretary's environmental assessment requirements referral The department sets what must be addressed, after consulting the council and the relevant agencies. after Ministerial declaration as state significant development 898d slack	NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure	assessment	—	45 estimate	—
6	Prepare the environmental impact statement application after Secretary's environmental assessment requirements, Prepare design and consultant documentation 493d slack	—	applicant	—	150 estimate	—
7	Lodge the application application after Prepare the environmental impact statement 488d slack	NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure	applicant	—	5 estimate	—
8	Public exhibition notification after Lodge the application 460d slack	NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure	statutory	28	28 estimate	—
9	Response to submissions application after Public exhibition 415d slack	—	applicant	—	45 estimate	—
10	Departmental assessment assessment One body assesses against the planning rules, having already gathered agency advice through the assessment requirements. after Response to submissions 295d slack	NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure	assessment	—	120 estimate	—
11	Determination decision after Departmental assessment 265d slack	NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure	assessment	—	30 estimate	Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW), s 4.38
12	Obtain the construction certificate certification after Determination 190d slack	Registered certifier (NSW)	assessment	—	75 estimate	Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW)
13	Lodge regulated designs and compliance declarations certification after Obtain the construction certificate 160d slack	Registered certifier (NSW)	applicant	—	30 published	Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020 (NSW)
14	Mandatory inspections during construction inspection after Lodge regulated designs and compliance declarations 135d slack	Registered certifier (NSW)	scheduling	—	25 estimate	—
15	Obtain the occupation certificate certification after Mandatory inspections during construction 90d slack	Registered certifier (NSW)	assessment	—	45 estimate	—
16	Obtain the strata certificate certification Strata certification returns to the council regardless of who granted consent. after Obtain the occupation certificate 30d slack	Consent authority (NSW council)	queue	—	60 estimate	—
17	Register the plan of strata registration after Obtain the strata certificate	NSW Land Registry Services	queue	—	30 estimate	—

on the critical path scheduling/queue = delay not caused by the assessment itself

Machine-flagged questions

These are produced automatically from the dependency graph. They are questions for a practitioner, not findings. Each one needs a person who has run this process to say whether the constraint is real.

Steps that may not need to wait

Secretary's environmental assessment requirements is a referral queued behind work by a different body. Does it consume that body's output, or is it merely sequenced that way by habit?

The same body asked more than once

nsw-private-certifier (certification) appears at Obtain the construction certificate, Lodge regulated designs and compliance declarations, Obtain the occupation certificate. Could these be a single sign-off?

Proposed changes

Enter the fast pathway by meeting published criteria, not by being selected into it threshold ~75d
Both major fast-track housing pathways in Australia are entered by ministerial declaration on a panel's recommendation. A proponent cannot know in advance whether they qualify, cannot appeal exclusion, and waits on a meeting cycle to find out.

Sources

Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW), Division 4.7
NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure, published Housing Delivery Authority meeting outcomes, 2025-2026
State Environmental Planning Policy (Planning Systems) 2021 (NSW)

Something wrong here?

This page is wrong in some way -- every page like it is. If you have run this process, the most useful thing you can do is tell us which step took longer than we say and why. Edit data/processes/nsw-apartments-hda.toml and open a pull request, or send us the correction.