Major Savings - NSW Housing Pattern Book

Written By Jimmy Mansour

The Minns Labor Government has launched the NSW Housing Pattern Book, offering architect-designed terrace, townhouse and manorhouse plans for just $1 during an initial six-month subsidy (normally $1,000). Each design includes a complimentary landscape plan and can be fast-tracked through a new 10-day Complying Development pathway, significantly reducing costs and delays. Backed by Low and Mid-Rise Housing reforms, the initiative aims to boost supply, affordability and choice, delivering sustainable, adaptable homes and helping families, young people and downsizers across NSW.

 

How the New NSW Housing Design Patterns Can Save You Thousands?

If you’ve been thinking about building a new home, a dual occupancy, or even a small townhouse project, there’s some great news. The NSW Government has just released a set of Housing Design Patterns, basically ready-made architectural designs for common housing types, created by Government Architects NSW: NSW Housing Pattern Book | Planning

These aren’t just sketches; they’re high-quality, pre-approved templates designed to meet planning rules and speed up the approval process.

And the best part? You, as a homeowner or investor, can use them for as little as one dollar.

But here’s the catch - It’s a two-step process:

  1. Select your preferred pattern (One Dollar)

  2. Adapt it to your property (by choosing 1001 Designs to complete your DA documentation and obtain your approval, you’ll be profiting from major savings on the entire process)

The design pattern is a $1 purchase. For that amount you’re getting the intellectual property, the clever thinking, layout, and design logic that has already been done by the government’s architects. It’s the bones of a house, a professional starting point, and it costs you nothing extra to access.

 

But… a $1 idea doesn’t build you a house.

That’s what we’re here for. We use your preferred pattern to:

  • Adapt the design to your block of land (every site has quirks: slopes, trees, easements, orientations).

  • Make sure it ticks all the boxes with your specific council’s rules.

  • Personalise it to your needs: maybe you want a bigger kitchen, an extra study, or a façade that feels like “you.”

  • Pull together all the technical drawings and reports needed to lodge a Development Application (DA).

 

Our role as your architect is to take that $1 idea and turn it into a DA-ready project that council will actually approve, without the stress, guesswork, or endless back-and-forth.

 

How You Save Costs With 1001 Designs

Normally, preparing a full DA set of drawings and documents from scratch is a big chunk of the project budget. But because we’re starting from a ready-made Housing Design Pattern, a lot of the heavy lifting is already done.

That means less design time, fewer revisions, and a smoother process overall.

 

And here’s Our offer:

If you choose one of the NSW Housing Design Patterns as your base design, we’ll give you a reduced fee for preparing the full DA documentation right through to lodgment.

You’ll still get a design that feels like it’s made for you, but without paying full price for work that’s already been done by Government Architects NSW.

Why This Is a Win for You?

  • Faster approvals: the patterns are designed to pass planning hurdles more easily.

  • Lower costs: reduced fee on our DA documentation service.

  • Less risk: you’re starting from a tested, government-backed design, not a blank page.

  • Personalisation: we’ll adapt it so it fits your block, lifestyle, and budget perfectly.

By using a NSW Housing Design Pattern as your starting point, you get the best of both worlds—the security of a government-approved design and the expertise of an architect to make it real.

If you’re ready to explore how this could work for your home, Get in touch with us today! Together, we can turn your preferred 1$ design into a $1,000,000 reality, at half of the usual cost.

FAQs

  • No, the copyright stays with Government Architect NSW. What you’re buying is the right to use the design for your own project.

  • Yes. The designs are flexible and can be adapted to your land, lifestyle, and council requirements with the help of an architect, 1001 Designs.

  • For the first six months, each design is available for just $1 (normally $1,000 per design).

  • No. The license applies to a single project. You’ll need to purchase another license for a different property.

  • With the new Complying Development pathway, approvals can be achieved in as little as 10 days, subject to assessments being completed.

© 2025 1001 Designs. All rights reserved. The content of this blog, including text, images, and NSW Housing Pattern Book designs, is for informational purposes only. No part of this material may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form without prior written permission. All NSW Housing Pattern Book designs remain the intellectual property of Government Architect NSW. Use of these designs is subject to the terms of the NSW Housing Pattern Book license.

Jimmy Mansour
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Game plan: Development Application (DA)