Our Fairer Future is not a rejection of housing growth. It is a recalibration. Inner West Council accepts the housing target, the logic of station-adjacent density, and the need for diverse housing types. What it disputes is how and where that growth should be allocated under the State Government's blanket approach - and what that means for heritage, flooding, feasibility and neighbourhood character.
The plan proposes approximately 31,000 new dwellings through two stages of Housing Investigation Areas as a place-based alternative to the State Government's Transport Oriented Development (TOD) and Low and Mid-Rise Housing (LMR) controls. If endorsed by the State Government, the Our Fairer Future controls will replace the current TOD and LMR provisions across the Inner West.
In the short term, both sets of rules are live and developers are running feasibility on amalgamations and making appoaches. For property owners, understanding which controls currently apply to their specific site - and what is proposed - is the starting point for any commercial assessment.
The State Government Controls - Already in Effect
The NSW Government introduced two separate housing reform mechanisms. The Transport Oriented Development SEPP (Chapter 5 of the Housing SEPP) applies mapped controls around identified train and metro stations, enabling residential flat buildings and shop-top housing at heights up to approximately 22 metres (6 storeys) within specified catchments. The Inner West has one Tier 1 accelerated precinct - Bays West - and four Tier 2 stations: Ashfield, Croydon, Dulwich Hill and Marrickville. TOD controls commenced at the four Tier 2 stations in January 2025 after the Council's deferral period lapsed without an extension being granted.
The Low and Mid-Rise Housing (LMR) policy (Chapter 6 of the Housing SEPP) came into effect on 28 February 2025. It applies within 800 metres of mapped centres and nominated stations, permitting low to mid-rise housing forms including dual occupancies, terraces and residential flat buildings, subject to certain exclusions and hazards.
What Our Fairer Future Proposes Instead
Our Fairer Future proposes amendments to the Inner West Local Environmental Plan 2022 through a place-based master planning process across two stages of Housing Investigation Areas (HIAs). Rather than applying uniform controls across a mapped catchment, it channels growth into specific corridors, centres and blocks with graduated heights and FSRs, while leaving the most intact Heritage Conservation Areas largely untouched.
Stage 1 HIAs cover an approximately 800 metre catchment around Ashfield, Croydon, Dulwich Hill and Marrickville train stations, and approximately 400 metres around Dulwich Grove, Arlington and Waratah Mills light rail stops. Stage 1 proposes capacity for approximately 22,000 additional dwellings. The Marrickville-Dulwich Hill Master Plan establishes a growth corridor connecting transport nodes and activity centres. The Ashfield-Croydon Master Plan concentrates density within Ashfield Town Centre and a series of north-south and east-west urban spines along Liverpool Road, Norton Street and Elizabeth Street.
Stage 2 HIAs extend the approach to Leichhardt, Petersham, Lewisham, Marrickville, St Peters and Sydenham, proposing capacity for approximately 9,000 additional dwellings, with a focus on light rail station catchments and main street corridors.
The combined proposed capacity of approximately 31,000 dwellings targets housing supply through to 2039, with a short-term National Housing Accord target of 7,800 new homes by 2029.
Feasibility, Incentives and Site Amalgamation
Council's own feasibility analysis acknowledges that land values, construction costs and the challenge of lot consolidation make the State's blanket controls unlikely to result in significant development in the short to medium term. Our Fairer Future responds to this with a suite of incentives designed to pull projects from theoretically possible to commercially viable.
The plan introduces bonus FSR and height controls for sites that meet minimum site area requirements - with larger amalgamated sites receiving greater incentives on a sliding scale. This directly incentivises neighbouring owners to coordinate, since individual lots may be too narrow or shallow to support larger densities without amalgamation. A separate 5 per cent GFA sustainability bonus applies to projects exceeding baseline SEPP (Sustainable Buildings) requirements. Key Sites in the master plans must deliver plazas, through-site links or park contributions to unlock maximum height and FSR bonuses.
The plan also introduces mandatory affordable housing contributions, starting at 2 per cent of gross floor area for schemes of 2,000 square metres GFA or more, with provisions for this to step up to 3 and then 5 per cent over time, managed through a Tier 1 Community Housing Provider.
What this means for your property
Outcomes in the Inner West will hinge less on broad planning slogans and more on which controls apply to your specific lot, which side of a heritage boundary you sit on, what your lot dimensions and frontage allow, and whether site amalgamation with neighbours is commercially viable. Properties with consolidation value - corner holdings, wide frontages, sites adjacent to Key Sites, lots within active TOD catchments - are attracting the strongest developer interest now, before final controls are confirmed.
Chem Property offers a free site assessment for Inner West property owners. We review your property against both the current TOD SEPP controls and the proposed Our Fairer Future framework, assess current developer demand and the development potential of your specific site, and advise on whether the timing and structure of any potential transaction makes sense.
