Other forms of housing

The annual Sydney housing supply forecast does not explicitly forecast, or include in the forecast, the following dwelling types: 

• Secondary dwellings
• Boarding houses
• Student accommodation
• Group homes
• Seniors living developments including retirement villages, hostels, aged care facilities
• Manufactured housing estates.

This year, for the first time, the Department is providing data on other forms of housing, recognising that they will help meet the needs of Sydney’s growing population.

Secondary dwellings and dual occupancies

Secondary dwellings and dual occupancies both refer to the addition of a second dwelling on a lot. The main differences between the two are:

• For a dual occupancy the dwellings can be equal in size. A secondary dwelling must be smaller (secondary) to the main dwelling
• A dual occupancy can be subdivided or strata titled and therefore have individual owners. A secondary dwelling cannot be subdivided from the land on which the primary dwelling stands. 

Although the Department's forecasting methodology does not capture secondary dwellings, it may capture dual occupancies both as development consents and separate water connections with Sydney Water.

Total approvals secondary dwellings 2006/07 to 2017/18

The Department has collected approvals data by LGA for 2006/07 to 2017/18 from the Local Performance Development Monitor for dual occupancies and secondary dwellings. (Note LGAs with less than 100 approvals over the period are not included).

The chart below shows the total number of approvals by new local government area boundaries for the 12 year period.

Note: click on the chart "Secondary dwellings and dual occupancies: Approvals" to view a larger version.

‘Other Dwellings’ 

A pipeline of ‘other dwellings’ - excluding secondary dwellings and manufactured home estates - was compiled using the CoreLogic's Cordell Connect AUS Project database. The pipeline refers to development applications lodged for assessment with a consent authority; development applications approved but not yet commenced; and developments under construction.

The purpose was to identify and track the scope and breadth of ‘other dwelling’ developments that will contribute to the diversity of Sydney’s future housing supply. As at February 2019, there was potential across Sydney for:

	6,344 units within 156 developments
	12,289 bedrooms within 395 developments
	6,127 beds within 46 developments

Other dwellings pipeline measured by type 2019

Tracking and analysing the other dwellings pipeline for Sydney expands the knowledge base and understanding of housing activity.

The chart below shows the ‘Other Dwellings’ pipeline, that is the number of ‘other dwelling’ projects that are under assessment as a development application, approved but not yet commenced, or under construction. Other dwellings are measured as units, bedrooms or beds. Each LGA is broken down to show how many of each accommodation type is in the pipeline for the LGA.

Note: click on the chart 'Other dwellings pipeline by type' to view a larger version.