Granville

The suburb of Granville within the City of Parramatta Local Government Area (LGA) is expected to experience significant change in the future as part of the Parramatta Road Corridor Urban Transformation Strategy (2016). This change, combined with the identified issue of housing affordability in the LGA, led the City of Parramatta Council (Council) to investigate the potential for affordable housing contributions within the Suburb.

To lead this investigation, HillPDA was commissioned to review Council’s Affordable Rental Housing Policy (2019) and conduct feasibility testing to determine the viability of imposing varying levels of affordable housing contributions on development in the suburb.

After testing, HillPDA created an Affordable housing contribution scheme (AHCS) that fulfilled the Council’s requirements under Section 7.32(1)(c) of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979, the State Environmental Planning Policy (Housing) 2021, and the Guideline for Developing an Affordable Housing Contributions Scheme (2019).

Our value add

HillPDA leveraged its multidisciplinary approach and expertise to identify development attributes across four ‘precincts’ with similar market dynamics to Granville. This approach streamlined the project and delivered outcomes tailored to development conditions on the ground.

HillPDA also provided demographic analysis utilising its internal ‘Affordable Housing Need Model’ to identify the demand for affordable housing by household income bands within the LGA. This created a strong, tailored evidence base for the AHCS.

Project outcome

HillPDA created an AHCS that provided viable, evidence-based, affordable housing contribution rates and associated equivalent monetary contribution rates for four precincts within Granville.

These rates are supported by supplementary information fulfilling the Council’s administrative and regulatory requirements, covering the administration and implementation of contributions, exempt development, affordable housing principles, development feasibility testing, and a strong, tailored evidence base for the LGA’s affordable housing needs.

Services:

• Policy review
• Affordable Housing Contributions Scheme development
• Market scenario analysis
• Contribution rate testing
• Development feasibility analysis

Client: City of Parramatta Council
Project year: 2023

For more information, contact Martin Hill, Director