Development Applications in Concord, NSW

Development activity in Concord

Concord’s residential building scene is steady but not frantic, which suits most of us who work here. Right now there are six development applications lodged with the local council, and that number tells you a lot about the market. It’s not a boom, but it’s not dead either. The most active project types are the usual suspects: new home construction, home extensions, and first-floor additions. There’s also a decent chunk of work classed as “other” – that’s your granny flats, carport conversions, and the odd swimming pool. If you’re a builder or a tradie looking for steady work in the inner west, Concord is a solid bet, but you need to know how the local council thinks.

The housing stock here is a real mix, and that drives what people build. You’ve got your classic federation and Californian bungalows along the tree-lined streets near the waterfront, solid brick homes from the 1950s and 60s further back, and then a scatter of 1980s townhouses and the occasional newer duplex. The big money is on the water, but the real work is in the middle of the suburb. Homeowners here aren’t usually tearing down perfectly good houses. Instead, they’re adding a first-floor addition to a three-bedroom brick veneer to get a master suite and a rumpus room, or they’re extending the back of a weatherboard to open up the kitchen and living area. The typical client is an upsizer – a couple in their forties who bought a fixer-upper ten years ago and now have two kids and a dog. They want more space but don’t want to leave the local school zone or the shops on Majors Bay Road.

Dealing with the local council is where you earn your money. They’re not the worst in Sydney, but they have their quirks. Turnaround on a standard DA for a home extension is usually around three to four months, but you can stretch that if you’ve got a heritage overlay or a tree preservation order. And there are plenty of trees in Concord. The council is strict on stormwater management and overshadowing – they will make you model the shadow diagrams for every season. Common conditions we see are requirements for a landscape plan, a BASIX certificate that actually matches the design, and a condition that all demolition waste is tracked. If you’re doing a first-floor addition, expect a condition about privacy screens. The neighbours here are vocal. Council gets complaints about noise and parking, so factor that into your community consultation.

The knockdown-rebuild market is smaller than you’d think, given the land values. A decent block in Concord can set you back two million, and that’s for an old house you’re going to demolish. The clients who do go down that path are usually cash-rich downsizers from the North Shore or investors who see the long-term value in a duplex site. But for most locals, the numbers don’t stack up. A full knockdown and rebuild can cost north of a million, and you’re still in a postcode where the median house price is around 2.5 million. The margins are tight. That’s why the extension market is the bread and butter. You can do a quality first-floor addition for $400,000 to $600,000 and add serious value without the client having to move out for a year.

The “other” category in those DAs is worth a mention. We’re seeing more secondary dwellings go through – that’s the granny flat market. Concord has a lot of long, deep blocks, and homeowners are realising they can get a rental income or a place for ageing parents without the headache of a full subdivision. The council is generally okay with these as long as they meet the floor space ratio and don’t overshadow the neighbour’s pool. The clients here are often older couples whose kids have left, or young families trying to get a mortgage helper. It’s not glamorous work, but it pays the bills and the approvals are usually straightforward if you keep the design simple.

If you’re thinking of picking up work in Concord, be upfront with your clients about timelines and council conditions. Don’t promise a six-month build when you know the DA will take four months to get approved. The locals are educated and