Estimating s7.11 and s7.12 contributions for a Western Sydney duplex

A duplex in Western Sydney usually attracts a local infrastructure contribution under Section 7.11 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979, calculated per additional dwelling or lot under the council’s contributions plan, and it may also attract the state Housing and Productivity Contribution if the site is subdivided or the development falls within the charged categories. Section 7.12 fixed levies, capped at 1 per cent of cost, apply only where no 7.11 plan covers the development, which for residential duplexes in Blacktown, Penrith, Liverpool and Camden is the exception rather than the rule. Both council contributions are conditions of consent and are normally paid before the construction certificate or subdivision certificate is issued. This article shows developers how each council’s plans work, how to build an estimate before you buy, and where the numbers move.

Who this is for: developers and investors pricing a dual occupancy in Blacktown, Penrith, Liverpool or Camden who need a defensible contributions line in the feasibility before exchange.

What is the difference between a Section 7.11 contribution and a Section 7.12 levy?

Section 7.11(1) of the Act allows a consent authority, where it is satisfied the development will require or increase demand for public amenities and services, to condition the consent on the dedication of land, a monetary contribution or both. Subsection (2) limits the condition to a reasonable contribution for the amenities concerned, which is the nexus test. Section 7.12(1) instead allows a levy of a percentage of the proposed cost of the development authorised by a contributions plan, and subsection (4) says the levy is valid even without a connection between the development and what the money is spent on. Section 7.12(2) prevents both kinds of condition on the same consent.

Section 7.13(1) is the clause developers should read twice. A council may only impose a 7.11 or 7.12 condition of a kind allowed by, and determined in accordance with, a contributions plan. The plan sets the rates, the indexation method and the timing, so an estimate that does not name the plan is a guess. Section 208 of the EP&A Regulation 2021 governs how the cost of development is determined for 7.12 purposes, and the Regulation caps the 7.12 percentage at 1 per cent of cost above $200,000, 0.5 per cent for cost between $100,001 and $200,000 and nothing at or below $100,000, unless a higher percentage has been approved for a particular area.

In practice, a duplex in an established suburb is charged under the council’s 7.11 plan at a per dwelling or per lot rate, often with a credit for the existing dwelling being demolished. A duplex in a growth centre precinct is charged under the precinct 7.11 plan, and those rates are much higher because they fund new roads, drainage and open space rather than upgrades.

How do the Blacktown, Penrith, Liverpool and Camden plans work?

Blacktown City Council administers a suite of Section 7.11 plans and publishes a catchment map showing which plan applies to each area, together with a contributions register and its works-in-kind and planning agreement policies. The council’s contributions team assesses each DA and complying development certificate and calculates the amount under the applicable plan. Established suburbs fall under the council’s established residential areas plan, while the North West Growth Area precincts (Riverstone, Alex Avenue, Schofields, Marsden Park, Marsden Park North, Riverstone East and others) each have their own plan, with the Blacktown Growth Centre Precincts DCP setting the development controls. Growth area rates are typically several times the established area rate per lot or dwelling.

Penrith City Council’s Section 7.12 Citywide Development Contributions Plan (as amended, effective from October 2021) applies to non-residential development with a cost of more than $100,000 that is not otherwise subject to a 7.11 plan. The plan itself states that residential development resulting in an additional dwelling will usually be subject to another Section 7.11 contributions plan, and that the council has adopted or intends to adopt 7.11 plans for residential development in established areas and in urban release areas. Penrith’s release area plans cover places such as Glenmore Park, Jordan Springs, Caddens and the Penrith Aerotropolis precincts. A duplex in an established Penrith suburb is therefore a 7.11 matter under the council’s established areas plan, not a 1 per cent levy.

Liverpool City Council’s contribution plans page lists the current plans, including Liverpool Contributions Plan 2009, the 2018 plans for the Established Areas and the Liverpool City Centre, and Liverpool Contributions Plan 2021 for the Austral and Leppington North precincts, with indexation notes published each quarter. A duplex in Liverpool’s older suburbs (Liverpool, Moorebank, Casula, Prestons, Hoxton Park) is charged under the established areas plan; a duplex in Austral or Leppington North is charged under the 2021 precinct plan at growth area rates.

Camden Council administers 7.11 and 7.12 contributions under the Camden Contributions Plan (Amendment 1), a Camden Section 7.12 Contributions Plan, the Oran Park Section 7.11 Contribution Plan (Amendment 1) covering the Oran Park and Turner Road precincts, and a heavy haulage plan, and it maintains a separate contributions scheme and enquiry process for secondary dwellings. Camden publishes a summary of current rates, indexed each quarter, and provides a contributions enquiry form through which a developer can request a quote before lodging. For duplexes in the South West Growth Area suburbs (Oran Park, Gregory Hills, Gledswood Hills, Leppington, Catherine Field) the precinct plan applies; for the established areas around Camden, Narellan and Elderslie the Camden Contributions Plan applies.

How the Housing and Productivity Contribution is charged

The Housing and Productivity Contribution (HPC) is a state contribution under Division 7.1 of the Act, collected on development applications lodged from 1 October 2023 in Greater Sydney, the Central Coast, the Lower Hunter and the Illawarra-Shoalhaven. It funds state infrastructure such as schools, hospitals, major roads and public transport and is separate from council contributions under Sections 7.11 and 7.12. On 1 July 2026 the scheme expanded to absorb the former Special Infrastructure Contribution areas in Western Sydney, which matters for growth centre and Aerotropolis sites that previously paid a SIC.

The Department’s published base rates from 1 July 2026 for Greater Sydney are $13,000.73 per residential subdivision lot and $10,833.94 per medium or high density dwelling, with commercial and industrial floor space charged per square metre. For the Central Coast, Illawarra-Shoalhaven and Lower Hunter the base rates are $8,667.15 per lot and $6,500.36 per dwelling. Whether a particular dual occupancy is charged, and under which category, depends on the HPC’s definitions and exemptions, including how it treats dwellings on land that is not subdivided, so run the site through the Department’s HPC calculator on the NSW Planning Portal rather than assuming. Where a Torrens subdivision creates a new lot, expect the per lot rate on the additional lot.

Building a contributions estimate for a duplex

1. Confirm the zone and whether the lot is in a growth centre precinct, a release area or an established area using the Section 10.7 certificate; Schedule 2 item 3 of the EP&A Regulation 2021 requires the certificate to name the contributions plans that apply.
2. Download the plan named on the certificate from the council’s contributions page and find the rate table for the development type: usually a rate per additional dwelling for dual occupancies, and a rate per additional lot for subdivision.
3. Apply the credit rules. Most established area plans credit the existing dwelling, so a duplex replacing one house is charged on one additional dwelling, not two. Growth area plans charge per lot or dwelling on greenfield land with no credit.
4. Index the rate. Plans are indexed quarterly by CPI or a land value index, and the council will recalculate at payment, so use the rate current at the quarter of expected payment, not the date of the plan.
5. Add the HPC using the Department’s calculator, and note that it is payable on the same trigger as the council contribution.
6. Check whether any Section 7.12 levy applies to a non-residential component or to an area with no 7.11 plan; if a 7.11 plan applies, the 7.12 levy does not.
7. Ask the council for a written contributions estimate. Blacktown’s contributions team, Camden’s contributions enquiry form and Liverpool’s and Penrith’s development contributions officers will confirm the plan and rate for a specific lot before you lodge.

Council by council: what a duplex is likely to be charged under

Rates are not reproduced here because each plan is indexed quarterly and the councils publish the current figures; use the table to find the right plan, then read the rate from the council’s current summary.

When are contributions paid, and can they be deferred?

The contributions plan and the consent condition set the timing. The standard condition requires a 7.11 contribution for building work to be paid before the construction certificate is issued, and a contribution for subdivision to be paid before the subdivision certificate is issued; for complying development, Section 7.21 of the Act applies the plan to the complying development certificate and the certifier imposes the condition. Because the amount is indexed to the date of payment, councils ask you to request an updated figure shortly before paying. Some plans allow deferred or periodic payment, or payment before the occupation certificate for certain development, usually with a bank guarantee and interest; the availability of deferral is set by each council’s plan and policy, so ask before you rely on it in the cash flow.

The common mistakes are three. Developers price the duplex on the established area rate when the lot is inside a growth centre precinct; they forget that a Torrens subdivision adds a per lot charge on top of the per dwelling charge in some plans; and they leave the HPC out entirely because it did not exist when their last project settled. A contributions line built from the named plan, the current indexed rate and the HPC calculator avoids all three.

Definitions

Contributions plan

A plan made by a council under Section 7.18 of the EP&A Act that identifies the infrastructure to be funded, its cost and the contribution rates, and authorises conditions under Sections 7.11 and 7.12.

Section 7.11 contribution

A condition requiring dedication of land or payment of money towards public amenities or services that the development will require or increase demand for, calculated under a contributions plan.

Section 7.12 levy

A fixed percentage levy on the cost of carrying out the development, authorised by a contributions plan, that does not require a nexus between the development and the works funded and cannot be combined with a 7.11 condition on the same consent.

Housing and Productivity Contribution

A NSW Government contribution towards state and regional infrastructure applying to residential, commercial and industrial development in Greater Sydney, the Central Coast, the Lower Hunter and the Illawarra-Shoalhaven, collected on applications lodged from 1 October 2023.

Indexation

The quarterly adjustment of contribution rates under a plan, usually by the consumer price index or a land value index, so that the amount paid reflects the rate current at the date of payment.

Works in kind

Delivery of infrastructure by the developer in place of a cash contribution, accepted by the council under Section 7.11(5) and its works-in-kind policy, usually documented in a works-in-kind agreement.

URBA prepares development due diligence reports that identify the contributions plan, the indexed rate and the HPC exposure for duplex sites across Western Sydney before you exchange, and statements of environmental effects that address contributions in the DA. See our development due diligence report service and our Western Sydney town planner page, or request a fee proposal for a site.