The Minns Labor Government has unveiled the NSW Housing Pattern Book, featuring affordable low-rise home designs along with a pioneering Complying Development pathway to accelerate housing delivery in the State.

The launch follows an international design competition held in 2024, with the pattern book featuring eight high-quality designs for terraces, townhouses, and manorhouses endorsed by the Government Architect and tailored for families, young people and downsizers. Each of these designs is available for just $1,000 – a significant reduction on the professional fee of over $20,000 that builders or homeowners would typically pay for a custom architect-designed home. The cost of these designs is further subsidised by the NSW Government, with each pattern priced at $1 for the first six months.

NSW Housing Pattern Book_Studio Johnston_Manor_homes.jpg — *Render credit: Exterior view of Manor Homes by Studio Johnston*

Designed for affordability, ease of construction, and sustainability, the homes are adaptable to different family sizes and lifestyle needs, with varying room formations and layouts helping to create vibrant, diverse communities that reflect the people who live in them. Each design also comes with a complimentary Landscape Pattern to encourage new homeowners to create climate-appropriate, biodiversity-friendly gardens.

To further cut major costs and delays, and fast-track these high-quality homes, a new ten-day Complying Development approval pathway has been introduced, enabling construction to start within ten days of lodging an application, provided all necessary assessments are met.

The Complying Development pathway will be available from 30 July 2025.

“For too long, too many people in NSW have been locked out of the housing market by rising costs and a system that made it too hard to build. We’re changing that,” says Premier of New South Wales Chris Minns.

“This Pattern Book is about giving people more choice, faster approvals, and affordable, high-quality homes. This is a practical step to make the housing system fairer – and make sure NSW remains a place where the next generation can afford to live and thrive.”

NSW Housing Pattern Book_SAHA_Row_Homes.jpg — *Render credit: Exterior view of Row Homes by SAHA*

The Pattern Book aligns with the NSW Government’s Low and Mid-Rise Housing reforms that have made terraces, townhouses and manorhouses broadly permissible across NSW, unlocking expansive opportunities for the designs to be adopted and built around transport hubs and town centres.

“The NSW Housing Pattern Book allows people to select an architect-designed home that comes with a landscape plan and an approval pathway that only takes a week to complete so they can start building almost immediately,” explains Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully.

“The NSW Housing Pattern Book takes the guesswork and the delay out of home-building. These designs offer choice, with less complexity, making it easier to build homes in NSW.”

The NSW Housing Pattern Book and broader housing reforms aim to make the housing system more equitable by increasing housing supply, providing people greater choice in living options, and supporting communities that have been locked out of housing by rising costs and a planning system that made it too hard to build homes. The initiative forms a core part of the Minns Government’s strategy to create a fairer NSW by making housing affordable for families, young people and downsizers in the communities of their choice.

NSW Housing Pattern Book_Anthony_Gill_Semis.jpg — *Render credit: Exterior view of Semis by Anthony Gill Architects*

“The pattern book offers practical and sustainable designs that can be adapted to suit many neighbourhoods, positively contributing to the character of a street,” notes Government Architect NSW Abbie Galvin.

“We are making it quicker and easier to build new low-rise homes that offer housing diversity for the whole community.”

Main render: Exterior view of Terraces by Carter Williamson

All images supplied.

Architecture News & Editorial Desk

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