The first townhouses from NSW’s housing pattern book will spring up in Cronulla and Hurstville. But why stop in Sydney? The designs for a mini-Australian dream home will also see new terraces and manor houses built in 15 countries, from Bulgaria to New Zealand and Jordan.
In July, the government released the state’s housing pattern book: eight blueprints for townhouses, terraces and manor houses, chosen from internationally renowned firms including Sam Crawford Architects, Carter Williamson Architects, SAHA and Anthony Gill Architects.
House designs from the NSW Pattern Book are being bought around the world.Credit: Matt Willis
The first two complying development certificates for designs from the pattern book have been lodged with the state government, and while the bulk of home owners and developers who have snapped up a pattern are from NSW, they are also being bought internationally.
The latest figures show 78 patterns have been bought from New Zealand, 33 from Singapore and the United Kingdom, and 14 in the US. Even the Bahamas and Jordan have secured several.
For just $1, home owners and developers can buy the designs. Once the six-month discount ends, it will move to $1000 per pattern, a saving of about $19,000 on the usual fees for an architect-designed home.
By using an approved pattern, home owners and developers in NSW will get fast-tracked approval, with the first two lodged last week for sign-off in Cronulla and Hurstville. But the pattern book is also available for broader use, providing “technical information” for their builders or design teams.
The latest figures show there have been 13,906 patterns sold in Australia: 11,487 in NSW, as well as 1056 in Victoria and 671 in Queensland.
The pattern book was the result of a 2024 competition that sought designs for denser types of development, such as terrace houses and duplexes. The book forms part of the government’s push to boost housing supply while keeping costs down for hopeful home owners.