Designing for the Future: Impact of SEPP Updates on Seniors Housing

In December 2023, changes were made to the NSW State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP) (Housing) 2021 that impacted seniors housing. While this would have been easy for many industry professionals to miss, we anticipated these updates, as Jensen Hughes had a role in formulating the amendments.

Our involvement specifically centered on Schedule 4 of SEPP, which relates to design standards for Independent Living Units (ILUs). Once known colloquially in the industry as “SEPP Seniors 2004,” this set of standards existed as a planning policy for housing for seniors and people with a disability. Given that the original 2004 standards remained largely unchanged since being incorporated into SEPP 2021, a renewal was considered long overdue.

Intent of the ILU Seniors Housing Amendments

In November 2022, the NSW Department of Planning and Environment (NSWDPE) released an “Explanation of Intended Effect” of the proposed amendments to SEPP. A key change described in the release included updates to the accessibility and design standards for ILU seniors housing.

According to the document, industry organisations and professionals identified multiple issues with the interpretation of the SEPP 2021 standards that could impact assessment timeframes. Thus, amendments were proposed to:

• remove outdated design specifications that have been superseded by technological improvements (for example, lighting and telecommunications),
• update and clarify the accessible car parking requirements for residents,
• update and improve accessibility standards for letterboxes (that is, to improve wheelchair access) and ancillary spaces (for example, garbage storage areas), and
• update and clarify the accessibility requirements for doors and entries and the main internal rooms and living spaces.

NSWDPE noted the updates would help ensure best accessibility practices, improve consistency in assessments and determination, and better equip the planning system to deliver safe and suitable seniors housing.

Key Changes to SEPP Seniors Housing Standards

Jensen Hughes’ involvement began in mid-2022 with our review of the proposals for SEPP Schedule 4 standards changes and continued in 2023 with the detailed formulation of the policy's written clauses. Although unavoidably compromised in some areas, the renewed 2023 policy largely meets the original intent that drove the proposed ILU seniors housing amendments. Key changes include:

• Improved functionality in the use of letterboxes for wheelchair users.
• Main dwelling entrance provisions complying with AS 1428.1 (rather than AS 4299).
• Clarification on internal doorway clearance and circulation requirements and the essential areas to which these requirements apply.
• Removal of requirements to bedrooms concerning lux levels and telephone outlets.
• Prescriptive requirements for bathroom slip resistance.
• Additional detailed requirements for showers in bathrooms to ensure intent and functionality, such as with respect to threshold conditions, drainage and future fixture installation.
• Detailed requirements for toilets ensuring intent and functionality, such as with setout, circulation and future fixture installation.
• Prescriptive requirements for balcony and external area slip resistance.
• Door hardware provisions complying with AS 1428.1 (rather than AS 4299).
• Requirements for switches and power points to AS 1428.1, with allowance for adaptation and acknowledgment of current technologies.
• A new section on private passenger lifts, allowing greater flexibility in building design. In the earlier SEPP, the use of lifts wasn’t considered.
• A new section on private open space, ensuring accessibility to such areas. The earlier version of SEPP did not clarify such requirements.
• Prescriptive requirements for kitchens and rules around the limitations of acceptable future adaptation to achieve the intent.
• Prescriptive requirements for laundries, with sections acknowledging separate requirements for cupboard-style laundries compared with standalone rooms.
• Prescriptive requirements for linen storage.
• Clarification on the accessible path from dwelling main entrances to garbage and recycling areas.

SEPP Parking Compliance Standards Updates

For 17 years, the SEPP 2004 housing parking requirements remained unchanged, even though parking standards were updated in the background. During that period, the accepted interpretation was 3.2m wide parking spaces, with 5% of these widened to 3.8m.

When SEPP 2004 was repealed and bound into SEPP 2021, a key change effectively called for 100% of parking spaces to comply with AS 2890.6. This required all parking spaces to be 2.4m wide with a 2.4m wide shared area that can be used by one other parking space. In housing developments where only one household member needs to be over the age of 55, compliance with such a change might be viewed as burdensome. To add to the confusion, SEPP 2021 included a reference to the 2004 guideline requiring that 5% of parking spaces be widened to 3.8m.

Recent SEPP updates sought to address such issues through a fairer distribution of parking types based on different building classifications. For example, for Class 1 buildings where parking is often integrated with the dwelling, only a 3.2m wide parking space with the capability to be widened to 3.8m is required. For Class 1, 2, and 3 buildings, common parking areas must include a percentage of spaces that comply with AS 2890.6 (i.e., 2.4m wide with a 2.4m wide shared area), with the option of using 3.2m wide spaces after the designated minimum requirements are met.

Offering flexibility based on building class helps to relieve some of the burdens of the previous 2004 standards while still acknowledging the different mobility needs of development occupants.

Tailored Solutions to Meet SEPP Standards

At Jensen Hughes, our experience in formulating the latest SEPP standards has uniquely positioned us to assist our clients in understanding their design obligations. We can help create tailored solutions that meet SEPP regulatory requirements while enhancing accessibility and usability for all occupants.