This program provides funding for councils to deliver infrastructure and open space projects that directly support the delivery of new housing supply.
Key information
- Status: Closed
- Grant amount: Up to $1,400,000
- Application opened: 26 April 2022
- Application closed: 3 June 2022, 4:00 pm
Program objective
This grant is closed and no longer open for application.
The program incentivises councils to address the recommendations of the Regional Housing Taskforce by offering funding to deliver infrastructure and open space projects that directly support the delivery of new housing supply.
Twenty-five projects have been approved for funding as part of the Regional Housing Fund. Projects include new roads, sewer upgrades, stormwater works, park upgrades, community facilities and new open space.
The objectives of the program are to:
- unblock and accelerate new housing capacity in regional NSW
- bring forward construction and the opportunity for jobs and economic activity in the short to medium term
- support investment in critical development infrastructure and high-quality public and open spaces projects.
This program is funded and administered by Department of Planning and Environment.
Eligibility
Who can apply
Funding is available to eligible councils that can demonstrate a commitment to address the recommendations of the Regional Housing Taskforce at a local level before 31 December 2022.
The funding is targeted at 21 councils categorised according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics classifications of local government and Office of Local Government groupings, which are based on broad demographic variables including population, location, size and economy.
Metropolitan fringe council:
- Central Coast
Regional city councils:
- Ballina
- Bathurst Regional
- Bega Valley
- Broken Hill
- Eurobodalla
- Goulburn Mulwaree
- Griffith
- Kempsey
- Lismore
- Lithgow
- MidCoast
- Mid-Western Regional
- Orange
- Queanbeyan – Palerang
- Richmond Valley
- Singleton
- Snowy Monaro
- Tamworth Regional
- Tweed Shire Council
- Wagga Wagga
Who can’t apply
- Councils not listed as the 21 regional councils (shown above).
Types of projects funded under this grant
Funding will be provided for:
- projects that deliver development infrastructure that will service planned or proposed housing development
- social and recreational infrastructure that will improve the community’s access to nature, parkland and recreation.
The program will support the design and delivery of:
- transport (public transport, roads and active travel), water, public and telecommunications assets, drainage, detention or landscaping
- community facilities, libraries, parks, playing fields, or early childhood centres
- regional and district open spaces and parklands including linear parklands
- trails and strategic open space linkages, including recreational improvements of riparian corridors and easements that contribute to the delivery of important corridors identified in regional plans or endorsed local strategic planning statements
- main street upgrades, civic plazas and high-quality active travel connections
- land acquisition for the purpose of creating new open space in areas where council has documented and published evidence of an existing deficiency in open space
- in-house project management or design services may also be funded subject to prior approval.
What can’t you apply for
The program will not supply funds for:
- projects outside of NSW
- ongoing personnel or staff positions
- events, marketing, branding, advertising or product promotion
- projects requiring ongoing funding for maintenance works from the NSW Government
- retrospective funding to cover any project component that is already complete/underway
- projects that are considered to be part of council’s usual ongoing maintenance and management of a site (including ongoing reserve management, asset maintenance or replacement of existing infrastructure)
- public art pieces or signage as a singular project.
Most recent recipients
What your application needs to include
You can download the full guidelines:
File
NSW Regional Housing Fund Guidelines (PDF 1.11MB)Councils must submit a program outline plan in their application that demonstrates how they will meet the 5 key recommendations of the Regional Housing Taskforce.
Nominations should include a brief description of a project or projects that can be delivered by 31 December 2023 and that will meet the assessment criteria - development infrastructure as outlined below
Prepare your application with this checklist
Councils must document relevant existing or new initiatives in a program outline plan. Program outline plans need to demonstrate how a council will contribute to the delivery of new housing supply and address local housing issues.
The program outline plan should set out a clear implementation plan for each initiative. It should identify:
- project name
- project description
- project deliverables and outcomes
- dwelling yield (if relevant)
- alignment to the Regional Housing Taskforce recommendations
- current status
- project timing and milestones
- risks/dependencies.
Regional Housing Taskforce recommendations and council initiatives
| Regional Housing Taskforce recommendation | Projects that could be included in a program outline plan |
|---|---|
| 1. Support measures that bring forward a supply of development-ready land | Projects that:
|
| 2. Increase the availability of affordable and diverse housing across regional NSW | Projects that:
|
| 3. Provide more certainty about where, when and what types of homes will be built | Projects that:
|
| 4. Investigate planning levers to facilitate the delivery of housing that meets short-term needs | Projects that:
|
| 5. Improve monitoring of housing and policy outcomes and demand indicators | Projects that:
|
Address the eligibility criteria
Eligible councils are those assessed as experiencing high levels of housing growth and/or under housing supply pressures. Due to their size, these councils are expected to have a significant role in providing new housing supply for the local government area and surrounding regions.
To qualify for participation in the program, councils will need to demonstrate a commitment to land use and infrastructure planning initiatives that support new housing in their local government area.
Participating councils nominated projects for funding under the NSW Regional Housing Fund program. Councils will be eligible to receive up to $1.4 million for development infrastructure projects that will directly support the delivery of new housing supply, or public and open space projects that enhance liveability in areas that are experiencing high rates of growth.
Address the assessment criteria
As part of their application, councils must demonstrate their commitment to land use and infrastructure planning initiatives that deliver new housing and align with the recommendations of the Regional Housing Taskforce.
We will assess the initiatives on whether they address one or more of the following criteria:
- enable new housing supply
- improve monitoring and forward planning for future housing supply
- increase housing diversity
- increase the availability of affordable housing.
After the application is submitted
This grant is closed and no longer open for application.
Support and contact
For more information email regionalhousingfund@planning.nsw.gov.au