Developing SEPP Seniors living for the Sydney downsizer market

In a standard residential zone – or R2 zone – you are restricted to placing single residential houses on each lot.

If you would like to develop your land, there are essentially two options:

1. Going through the costly and difficult process of applying to rezone the land

2. Using the State Environmental Planning Policy (NSW) or SEPP to subdivide your lot into units, townhouses or villas for over 55s

The State Environmental Planning Policy (NSW) has specific provisions that allow for the development of housing for seniors under the policy.

If you meet the criteria, then it is just a matter of assessing the site to determine if a seniors living development is feasible.

Luke explains:

“We look at the primary site guides and then we assess the steepness of the block to determine if it is buildable for this type of development. The degree of slope is critical – if it’s a steep block it’s just not going to work in terms of disability access. We take into account the topography, surrounding neighbours, landscaping and streetscape to get a full picture of the feasibility.”

The other consideration to make is that even if your lot isn’t large enough to meet the SEPP requirements, you can join with a neighbour who has a common goal to combine your lots. 1000sqm is just the minimum requirement… you can work with blocks that are much larger.

In terms of design, the important thing to remember is the market you are selling for.

At Playoust Churcher we have a very specialised skill set in being able to identify and design for the downsizer market on the North Shore and Northern Beaches.

Luke explains:

“We know this space inside and out. We know how to design seniors living that the market will like. Most of the SEPP Seniors purchasers on the North Shore and Northern Beaches are already living in the area but want to downsize.

They want to buy in the local area and so we need to match the SEPP Seniors living guidelines with good design that will resonate with what they are looking for.”

“As a rough guide and dependent on the location, if a downsizer is selling their home for $1.7m, in our experience they will be looking to pay between $1.4 and $1.5m for their seniors housing. They still want a beautiful home that suits their lifestyle, they just don’t want to do the gardening anymore or to worry about the maintenance on a large home.

When you factor in the prices that these types of units will sell for, you can do the calculations for your lot based on the number of units or townhouses you can build on the lot.

That is also something we have quite a lot of specialist expertise in. I can look at a design or block of land and very quickly determine the best use of the land to maximise the end value.”