Topic: Housing Construction Industry
The four row homes in Corrimal will be the first in the state built using a Pattern Book design. ( ABC Illawarra: Justin Huntsdale )
A set of row homes in Corrimal will be the first of the NSW government's $1 pattern book designs to be completed.
The government has sold more than 25,000 designs from the book, with 22 being built.
The opposition says the low numbers show the scheme is a "dud", but builders say it is working.
Construction costs might be soaring across the country but on a building site at Corrimal, north of Wollongong, no-one is complaining about the price that was paid for an architect's plans.
Builder James Forrest and his team are putting the finishing touches on four new row homes, following designs purchased for just $1 from a pattern book launched by the NSW government in July 2025 .
If he meets the November deadline, he will be the first in the state to complete a home under the scheme.
Mr Forrest said using the design saved him an extraordinary amount of time, because it included planning controls and a 10-day complying development pathway.
"All the rigours of the design work have been done already. It's just matching it to the site, and it's approved," he said.
James Forrest aims to complete the project by the end of November. ( ABC Illawarra: Justin Huntsdale )
The Corrimal development used one of eight low-rise designs available for the nominal fee of $1 in the first six months of the scheme.
The program was sold as a way to get more high-quality housing built faster and cheaper. So far, 25,000 designs have been purchased.
Harry Catterns says the designs can be adjusted to different sizes and configurations. ( ABC Illawarra: Justin Huntsdale )
Architect Harry Catterns co-owns the company that designed the row homes.
"We thought it would be a more helpful contribution to the housing mix if we could provide small house-like dwellings with their own front door, their own garden, rather than the typical apartment you might see on a site like this," he said.
Mr Catterns said the design could be adjusted to one, two or three bedrooms and offered different bathroom configurations.
All are two-storey, with balconies and sliding glass doors.
The builder is hoping to have the homes ready for tenants, and owners, by Christmas. ( ABC Illawarra: Justin Huntsdale )
Mr Forrest said he hoped to have three homes occupied by Christmas, and the fourth, larger home on the market shortly after.
"These will be cheaper for buyers than ordinary builds for a number of reasons, but primarily because of its speed and cost-saving," he said.
Mr Forrest estimated the Corrimal build was around $600,000 cheaper than an ordinary project.
The Pattern Book now offers 17 designs after nine mid-rise options were added in November 2025.
They cost up to $2,500 and do not have the same planning controls or fast-track as the low-rise designs.
Tom Forrest says the scheme has been a "dud". ( ABC News: Sam Foster )
The Urban Taskforce's Tom Forrest said the mid-rise developments would still need final development approval from councils and faced the same planning timelines as a typical build.
"Nobody is building and it hasn't improved the number of new dwellings brought to the market," he said.
So far, the entire Housing Pattern Book program has translated to fewer than 60 applications, with 45 of them approved.
The Housing Industry Association does not agree, with NSW chief executive Brad Armitage saying it was working for builders.
"When you take those [economic] factors into consideration, so many approvals with this relatively new pattern book is actually quite strong," he said.
Brad Armitage says the pattern book is a success. ( ABC News: Simon Amery )
The NSW opposition has promised to overhaul the scheme with new designs and review planning controls if it is elected next March, describing it as a "failure".
"We want to see a lot more builders like this one at Corrimal rolling out a lot more housing as part of the pattern book and clearly it's not working at the moment," Shadow Housing Minister Chris Rath said.
"We need to make it much easier to actually build the pattern book designs.
"It's just far too slow and far too restrictive."
NSW Planning Minister Paul Scully defended the outcome.
"We're seeing challenging economic conditions for new home building, higher interest rates, higher building costs, shortages of skilled labour," he said.
"But I'm pleased with the level of interest there was, and I think you'll start to see more coming out of the ground as we start to see the proof in the builds themselves."
The Corrimal project will not be James Forrest's last. ( ABC Illawarra: Justin Huntsdale )
Mr Forrest said he was already planning another Housing Pattern Book build.
"We've done it, we've landed this," he said.
"Generally speaking, this is a goer."
