South Australians set to save on development applications

These changes, outlined in a media announcement, are part of the latest initiative by the government in helping to ease the housing crisis through bringing costs down for South Australians looking to develop accommodation.

Within this scheme, which will operate on a sliding scale, low-cost developments will attract a correspondingly lower lodgement fee while high-cost developments will incur a higher lodgement fee.

Before this reform, all development applications were subject to a flat fee.

The South Australian Minister for Housing and Urban Development and the Minister for Planning, Nick Champion, was emphatic that “this will be a fairer system for the community” that a “vast majority of South Australians will be better off under”.

Applications with an overall development cost of less than $500,000 will attract a lodgement fee starting from $90, a far cry from the previous $193 flat rate.

Developments costing more than $500,000 will begin to scale up, with the maximum lodgement fee of $2,970 set for developments costing more than $10 million.

These fee changes will also apply to proposals to amend the Planning and Design Code, known as code amendments.

This new structure is set to scale and reflect the complexity of each proposed code amendment, therefore creating a fairer system in which users only pay for the services they receive.

The South Australian government reaffirmed its commitment to maintaining transparency and accountability throughout the code amendment process, reinforcing the notion that high-quality and efficient service could continue to be offered through charging fees commensurate with the amount of work to be done within a proposal.

“The sliding scale is designed to benefit those looking to add a small extension, or a shed or a pool who will save money under this new system,” concluded Champion.