Expression of interest

Expressions of interest submitted to the HDA should be high-yield housing proposals that can be assessed and constructed quickly, drive well-located and affordable housing and complement the state significant rezoning pathway.

Proposals should have an estimated development cost of about $60 million in Greater Sydney, Newcastle, and Wollongong, and about $30 million elsewhere.

Where a submission is not for high yield housing or where it does not meet multiple criteria, the HDA is less likely to recommend a proposal as it will not meet the objectives of the pathway.

Applications with a significant and complex site history are likely to take longer to assess, so they may not be suitable for this pathway.

View the Housing Delivery Authority State Significant Development Expression of Interest criteria (PDF, 189 KB).

As part of a review of the HDA’s first 12 months of operations, the criteria for the HDA state significant development pathway have been updated to better align to strategic planning, provide a stronger focus on affordable housing outcomes and reflect recent decision-making.

The review was led by an independent team within the Department and included targeted consultation with industry and local government stakeholders.

The HDA remains firmly focused on accelerating the delivery of major housing developments in areas that are well-located and have the necessary infrastructure in place.

From 12 May 2026, all EOIs will be evaluated against the updated criteria. Where required, the Department will reach out to applicants for further information to allow evaluation against the updated criteria.

No.

Where required, the Department will reach out to applicants for further information to allow evaluation against the updated criteria. Making a new submission may result in delays to the consideration of an EOI.

Affordable housing has always been a focus of the HDA. The updated criteria provide greater clarity for industry and promote a long-term pipeline of affordable homes by seeking that proposals deliver ongoing affordable housing where significant change is proposed.

The criteria changes ensure that the level of affordable housing offered addresses existing policies and, where a rezoning is proposed, is proportionate to the development outcome proposed.

The HDA criteria make clear that affordable housing offerings should align to existing council or State policies, and where a concurrent rezoning is proposed, be proportionate to the development outcome proposed.

Guidance on affordable housing is aimed at ensuring that where a concurrent rezoning under the HDA pathway leads to a windfall gain by the proponent, that some of that value should be returned in the form of affordable housing.

However, there may be circumstances where the existing or proposed planning controls, combined with a strict and overly onerous application of affordable housing requirements, are inconsistent with the feasible development or productive use of a site. In these circumstances, the criteria are intentionally flexible to allow applicants to tailor the percentage, ownership and tenure of any affordable housing contribution to individual projects and ensure affordable housing requirements do not result in projects becoming unfeasible. 

It is expected that the percentage of affordable housing offered in-perpetuity would be lower than a time-limited affordable housing contribution. 

If a project is declared SSD, the affordable housing rate and mechanism will be confirmed through the assessment process considering the proposed outcome and feasibility.

Many councils have existing affordable housing schemes in their Local Environmental Plan which set out a locally responsive affordable housing rate. State policies may also provide settings for affordable housing, for example, TOD Planning Controls and Infill Affordable Housing Provisions.

The changes to the criteria mean an EOI’s affordable housing offering should respond to these policies, relative to the scale of development proposed.

No. An offering of affordable housing in-perpetuity should be included where already outlined in an existing policy or where an EOI is seeking significant uplift through a concurrent rezoning.

It is expected the percentage of affordable housing provided in perpetuity would be lower than a contribution provided for a shorter period.

Applicants are encouraged to consider the significance of uplift proposed in terms of the site’s context (for example, surrounding buildings and land use zones) and the scale of variation proposed from existing planning controls.

The HDA’s criteria (PDF, 189 KB) have been updated to provide more clarity on areas where the HDA Pathway may not be appropriate. These changes reflect the HDA’s decision making and recognise that not all land is suitable for residential development and industrial or employment generating uses must also be considered.

These areas include the commercial zoned cores of certain CBDs where employment uses are prioritised: land zoned SP5 Metropolitan Centre in the Sydney CBD, land zoned E2 Commercial Core in the North Sydney CBD and certain identified land in the Parramatta CBD ("Area B" on the Special Provisions Area Map under Parramatta LEP 2023).

Some locations which are subject to a State-led rezoning which is yet to be exhibited, where a dwelling cap applies or which are not appropriately zoned to support high yield residential uses are also included.

Applicants who are keen to pursue proposals in these areas are encouraged to talk to the Planning Concierge team about options for individual sites as they may be better suited for consideration in an alternative pathway.

An EOI is still always able to be submitted, and where a compelling case can be made, the HDA retains its flexibility to consider the potential merits of a proposal, in line with its overall objective of supporting feasible housing projects.

The expression of interest criteria for state rezoning enables a concurrent state significant development (SSD) and state rezoning. We expect most expression of interest proposals to enable a SSD by addressing either permissibility or an increase in height/floor space ratio development standards.

The Housing Delivery Authority (HDA) process does not support stand-alone rezonings. Applicants should discuss standalone rezoning plans through a planning proposal with the relevant local council. The State Significant Rezoning Policy, which was launched in September 2024, enables identification and assessment of sites which may be suitable for state significant rezoning.

The expression of interest process applies to major residential development across NSW that meets the criteria. However, a proposal with a site rezoning or development application already lodged through another pathway will not be declared.

If a proposal is submitted to the HDA, it must be withdrawn from any other approval pathway before it will be declared state significant.

From 1 July 2026, all EOIs to the HDA will be considered within 60 days.

For EOIs submitted prior to 30 April 2026, applicants can expect guidance on the eligibility of their project by 30 June 2026.

In general, EOIs will be considered in the order of when they were received.

To ensure your expression of interest is evaluated quickly, please ensure it clearly and completely answers the questions in the web form. If your application is accurate and of high quality, we should not need to investigate further or ask for more information.

The Department notifies applicants of the outcome of their EOIs by email.

Briefing records are published on the HDA web page within 14 days of each HDA briefing. These include a project description for each expression of interest considered, the HDA’s recommendation and reasons and advice to the Minister for Planning and Public Spaces. It also includes key briefing details like the date and time of the briefing, attendees and disclosures of interest, where applicable.

Successful proposals that the Minister for Planning and Public Spaces declares to be State Significant Development are published in an Order.

The Record of Briefing details high-level information about each EOI submission, the HDA’s recommendations, reasons as advice to the Minister for Planning and Public Spaces. This sets out whether a major residential proposal should be declared as a state significant development based on an evaluation against the Housing Delivery Authority State Significant Development Expression of Interest criteria (PDF, 189 KB).

The Record of Briefing also includes key briefing details like the date and time of the briefing, attendees and disclosures of interest, where applicable.

The Ministerial Order is the instrument through which the Minister declares proposals as state significant after considering the advice of the HDA.

Decisions of the HDA are final and are not subject to appeal.

Unsuccessful applicants can revise their submission in response to the feedback of the HDA and submit a new expression of interest for consideration.

When a proposal is declared for the state significant development (SSD) pathway during the Expression of Interest (EOI) process, it is important to understand that this is not an approval of the proposal.

Projects declared SSD on the HDA pathway go through a rigorous merit assessment including public consultation to ensure good community outcomes, which may include changes to the expected yield or other proposed controls in the EOI.

Declared state significant development (SSD) applications that submit an Environmental Impact Statement in accordance with issued Secretary’s Environmental Assessment Requirements (SEARs) must pay a fee before the application is considered lodged and the Department begins its assessment.

State significant development major residential proposals will be charged in line with the state significant development fee schedule (PDF, 266 KB).

The fee payable for a concurrent rezoning will be determined based on the complexity of the rezoning.

Applications proposing a SSD and concurrent rezoning must pay a SSD fee and a rezoning fee. We will issue an invoice to the applicant using the contact details in the application.

Application fees are non-refundable and cover the Department’s costs in assessing the application(s).

The HDA state significant development (SSD) pathway aims to encourage and identify major residential proposals.

The HDA SSD pathway speeds up the planning process through:

• streamlined environmental assessment requirements
• greater ability to manage and coordinate agency inputs
• a single assessment and consent authority
• more consistency in assessment and determination outcome.

Once a proposal is declared as a state significant development (SSD), applicants need to request the Secretary’s environmental assessment requirements (SEARs) for their projects from the Department. Once SEARs have been issued, applicants will have 9 months to lodge their application with the Department before it expires, consistent with the requirement for HDA projects to be able to be assessed and delivered quickly.

Prior to SEARs expiring, applicants may request SEARs extensions of up to 3 months where they can demonstrate substantial progress, nominate a specific lodgement date and show that delays were beyond their control.

The Department aims to assess these proposals within 275 days of receiving relevant applications. This includes important steps in the assessment process such as public exhibition of the proposal. It should be noted that projects that provide all information upfront are more readily assessed within the 275 day timeframe.

The concurrent rezoning pathway is only available to proposals that have come in via an EOI and are considered by the HDA.

The Department has developed a single set of industry-specific Secretary’s Environmental Assessment Requirements (SEARs) for eligible major residential developments.

These industry-specific SEARs provide a simplified, more certain and consistent approach and ready-made assessment requirements for eligible major residential developments including under the HDA pathway. Once requested the Department will generally issue industry-specific SEARs in 7 days.

Where a proposal is wholly or partly prohibited, would otherwise be designated development, or is for a concept development application, it is not eligible for industry-specific SEARs. In these instances the Department will need to issue project-specific SEARs within 28 days.

Where an application includes a complex concurrent rezoning, the Department will be holding a Planning Focus Meeting (PFM). In these instances, SEARs will be issued after the PFM even if they are industry-specific SEARs. This may impact the timeframes for issuing of SEARs, even if industry-specific SEARs are suitable.

The Minister for Planning and Public Spaces (or a delegate) is the consent authority for development applications under this state significant development (SSD) pathway and SSD pathway with concurrent rezoning.