The NSW Department of Planning and Environment published an Implementation Guideline for the new Housing and Productivity Contribution on 25 August, with many members calling us in the following days raising concerns about the impact to surveyors and to your clients.
The HPC is aimed at funding the infrastructure and projects needed in growing regions but our preference is that it doesn’t slow the economy, that it is fairly applied, and that you are able to provide the correct advice to your clients.
We feel that with a starting date of 1 October 2023, the transition from the Special Infrastructure Contribution to the Housing and Productivity Contribution (HPC) is rushed any hasn’t allowed enough time for the industry to be trained and to update their advice and procedures. It also impacts a larger part of NSW meaning many will be including this charge for the first time.
We met with the Department last week and raised issues impacting updates to the guidelines. We trust they will see the need for further consideration as a result of our submission and further advocacy.
As part of this approach, on Monday we wrote a submission to the Department asking for a longer transition period to avoid loopholes and potential court cases and confusion. We have posed questions that were drafted from consultation with members expressed our concern and provided overall comments with the change.
We received a response from the Department to many of our questions the next day and I have updated the included submission to include these.
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