Shea CullenNSW Registered Architect 9748 · Updated 6 July 2026What does the NSW Housing and Productivity Contribution mean for the Central Coast?
The Housing and Productivity Contribution (HPC) is a NSW state charge that sits on top of the contributions Central Coast Council already levies. The Central Coast is inside the contribution region, so it applies here.
As at 1 July 2026, for our region (grouped as Central Coast, Illawarra-Shoalhaven and Lower Hunter):
| Development | Contribution | |---|---| | Residential subdivision, per new dwelling lot | $8,667.15 | | Medium or high density, per new dwelling (including apartments) | $6,500.36 | | Manufactured home estate, per dwelling | $6,500.36 | | Commercial, per m² of gross floor area | $32.50 | | Industrial, per m² of gross floor area | $16.25 |
These rates are indexed quarterly, against the Producer Price Index for road and bridge construction, so the figures above cover the July to September 2026 quarter only. There is no such thing as a financial year HPC rate. Check the Department's rates table for the current quarter before you rely on a number in a feasibility.
The three things people get wrong
It is not payable at the occupation certificate. The HPC falls due at the Construction Certificate, subdivision certificate or strata certificate, depending on what you are doing. If you have budgeted it as a completion cost, you need the money a whole build earlier than you planned, which is a real cash flow problem on a multi dwelling project.
A single house on an existing lot is not caught at all. The HPC is not a tax on building a home. It applies to subdivision creating new dwelling lots, and to medium and high density dwellings.
Dual occupancy is charged net, not gross. Adding a second dwelling to a lot that already has a house counts as one chargeable dwelling, because you created one, not two. Worth knowing before you double the number in your dual occupancy feasibility.
The transitional discount has expired
There was a phased introduction: a 50 per cent discount until 1 July 2024, then 25 per cent until 30 June 2025. Both are gone, and the full rate now applies.
You may still see advice quoting a 25 per cent discount running to 30 June 2026. That is not this charge. It refers to the biodiversity component on Cumberland Plain land in Western Sydney, which does not apply here: the Central Coast attracts no biodiversity or transport component, only the base contribution.
The current instrument is the Environmental Planning and Assessment (Housing and Productivity Contributions) Order 2024, which commenced 1 July 2024 and repealed the 2023 Order that the earlier version of this page was written about.
If you want the contributions on a specific site worked out before you commit to it, including council's own contributions and the 307 certificate servicing charge that catches people the same way, send me the address.
Related: how to apply for a 307 certificate, another contributions requirement that arrives after approval, and how much it costs to build on the Central Coast.
